The 2007 Volleyball World Cup

The same weekend as Water Festival, Phnom Penh also played host to the start of another "major" event: the 2007 Volleyball World Cup (official site). This wasn't your ever day volleyball tournament, or the kind of volleyball that ESPN2 features on occasion (although it probably should); this was the Volleyball World Cup organized by the World Organization of Volleyball for the Disabled. In other words, all athletes had some sort of physical disability. Interestingly, most disabilities for countries other than Cambodia were the result of birth defects, car accidents, or the like. However, the bulk of Cambodia's team suffered from landmine accidents (Cambodia remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world).

The World Cup was the first international sporting event that Cambodia hosted since the 1960s. The week-long event took place at the somewhat archaic and very art-deco Olympic Stadium, which, as I have blogged about earlier, is also the locale of some serious line dancing. Six teams qualified for the tourney, including Cambodia, Canada, Germany, India, Poland, and Slovakia.

The first six days of the tournament were round-robin matches to determine rankings and the schedule for playoff matches. Unfortunately, Shanti and I couldn't make it to any of these preliminary games. After Cambodia beat India to earn a spot in the semi-finals against Slovakia, we couldn't stay away any longer. On Friday night, we made the short walk over to the Olympic Stadium to watch the match.

Though the indoor arena was crowded, it was by no means full, and we had no trouble finding somewhere to sit. The crowd was impressively noisy and enthusiastic for its size, probably no more than 1,500. We were sitting in a section in which large Cambodian flags were being waved and there was a large drum section, which continued without fail for the duration of the match. In front of the flags, several fans danced to the rythym of the drums, bouncing in an awkward, if not amusing manner, as long as the drums were beating (i.e. the whole game). A number of fans had the Cambodian flag painted on their face and cheered in a fervor akin to an American football game. This was the sporting event that my life had been craving since arriving in Cambodia.

The match was a good one. Cambodia dropped the first set (played to 25), but won the second. Slovakia won the third, but Cambodia rallied to win the fourth and force a fifth and final set. Not only was the play close, it was of a very high level. I was incredibly impressed that teams consisting of players missing a hand, arm, or even a leg (though all had prosthetics) could play volleyball as well as they did.

Moreover, the spirit of the Cambodian volleyball players was unparalleled even to the rowers that participated in Water Festival. Throughout the match, players rallied the crowd, interacted with fans, and wore their elated emotions on their sleeves. In a country in which so many people fall victims to landmines, this group of nine men really gave those victims something to look up to and aspire to. In many ways, it is probably much easier to give up hope and beg at a tourist attraction or a market, but these individuals put their disabilities aside and made something positive of it.

Cambodia fell early in the final set. When they were down 14-10 and the announcer said that it was match point, we were taken by surprise, thinking that the fifth set, like the first four, would be played to twenty-five. But, alas, the final set was to fifteen and Cambodia could not rally to win the four points in a row necessary to force play to continue. Later a friend described our feelings of disappointment quite well: "If only I had known, I could've cheered that much harder and maybe they would have won..."

Perhaps the most amusing event of the night was when an American tried to start the wave. Those of us that grew up in the U.S. do so thinking that the wave is universal. I mean, who doesn't know the wave? Well, the Cambodians don't. Though there were a handful of expats in the crowed, trying to coax the wave out of the Cambodians, it was a humorous failure. Inevitably, the Cambodian crowd would stand up completely out of order and remain standing, eliminating any possibility of creating a "wave" effect.

Though Cambodia lost their semifinal match, they did return to play Poland in the bronze medal game on Saturday afternoon. Needless to say, we attended. Though the atmosphere was not nearly as exhilarating as the night before (after all, Cambodia did not make the finals), the arena was almost as full as the previous night, almost as loud, and almost as enthusiastic. Cambodia was able to beat Poland to take the bronze. As is fitting with their spirit throughout, the players celebrated in style. After jumping up and down and paying their respects to the crowd, they ran laps around the volleyball court, waving large, silk Cambodian flags.