Nigeria's inclusion back in the tournament hardly made any difference. For both the fancied teams, their clash against the African nation at the Netaji Indoor stadium on Sunday, was like a stroll in the park.
With three straight wins in the five-team Group A, the hosts and the men from Down Under will clash on the morrow to decide the group topper. While the winners will take on South Africa in the semifinal, the losers will clash with the formidable Pakistan in the other last four stage clash.
As is their wont, the Indians began a trifle slowly, making a couple of errors. But once they got their eye in, there was no stopping them. It was centre-blocker Pradeep who led India's charge.
The 2.02M tall player came up with a brilliant show at the net, both in defence and offence. He thwarted the Nigerian attackers with a stupendous show at the net, while he was equally emphatic in his short-ball kills.
The Nigerians, runners-up in the inaugural edition in 1981, just didn't have the wherewithal to match the Indians and looked like a rabbit trapped in the headlights. They didn't know what hit them.
The first set was over and done in a mere 14 minutes. The second and third sets were left for experimentation. Attacker Sanjay Kumar and main setter Kapil Dev were taken off and were replaced by the talented Mandeep Singh and Ukkrapandian respectively.
They didn't disappoint either. But despite gifting their rivals free points, the Indians were largely untroubled. Captain Srikanth and Sube Singh made a series of errors to give the Nigerians some hope.
Pedestrian
Sadly, barring Marcel Mudo, the rest looked pedestrian. Their game just didn't match their enthusiasm. Maybe the 40-hour travel took its toll on them. Moreover, they were playing their third match in less than 24 hours.
But once the Indians cut down on the errors, the Nigerians' hopes too vanished. From 20-19, the hosts reeled off five points in a row to take the second set and ran them ragged in the third set, which they won 25-15.
"Tomorrow is the key clash against Australia," said Indian coach G E Sridharan. "If we tighten up our blocks, I think we will have a good chance of putting it across the favourites."
The Aussies were equally emphatic in their annihilation of Nigeria earlier in the day. Left-handed Paul Carroll stood out for the team from Down Under with his fine spiking, while attacker Nathan Roberts, coming on in the third set, warmed up nicely for Thursday's clash against India with a superb assault.
Second six
Like the Indians, the Aussies too literally fielded their second six in the second and third sets. The one-man Army (Mudo) could do nothing but wait for their agony to end. It did, after 57 minutes.
In the crucial Group B clash, Pakistan played the big points well to put it across South Africa 3-0 to top the group. The Proteas were guilty of making far too many errors at crucial junctures to go down in straight sets.
Results:
Group A: Australia bt Nigeria 25-15, 25-12, 25-16; Sri Lanka bt Bangladesh 20-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-21; India bt Nigeria 25-6, 25-19, 25-15.
Group B: Pakistan bt South Africa 25-18, 25-22, 25-20.
Today's matches: 2.00 pm: Canada vs New Zealand; 4.00 pm: Nigeria vs Sri Lanka; 6.00 pm: India vs Australia.