'India for me is like..': Pro Volleyball player Danial Moatazedi dissects his profound experience

After a spectacular initiation in 2022 and scaled-up display and reception in the second season, the Prime Volleyball League is up and running with its third season. A total of 9 franchises are vying for the glory, only one would succeed. While some high-flying action is prevalent in the season, it is turning out to be a case of a conventional tug-of-war on the league table. 

Ahmedabad Defenders, Mumbai Meteors, Calicut Heroes, Bangaluru Torpedoes and Delhi Toofans are also locking horns for the top spot. The champions of the last time Ahmedabad have continued from where they left off however this time one of their supreme commanders from their side is missing from the squad. 

Ahead of the start of the PVL 2024, Danial Moatazedi, who was with the defenders the last season has been roped in by Calicut Heroes. The aplomb baller has accustomed to the needs of his new franchise and is flourishing for the southern city. 

To delve deeper into the player's profile, republicworld.com caught up with Danial Moatazedi and posed a few relevant queries in front of him. Contrary to his intimidating presence on the court, exclusive to the opposition only, the player from Iran cut out a humble image and addressed all our questions benignly. 

From loving the experience of playing in India to teaching us how the game of Volleyball is different from other sports, Moatazedi was quite expressive in his dialect. So, without further ado, here are the excerpts from the conversation. But first, here's a clip of him in action.

Q. Are you enjoying your time here? How's India treating you?

Yeah. Every time. You guys are great with me. 

Q. You were with the winning team last time, and this year you are playing for Calicut Heroes, so aside from the teammates what has changed?

This year I think it's so much better than last year. This year, the focus is on overall volleyball. The professional coach, the player becoming more professional, and I think it is good. It's much better.

Last time was great actually, I think it was the best time for me. I think after the first match, with Hyderabad, yes, and we lost. We lost and it was like 'Oh My God! We will not be champions' I need this trophy, I need to show myself, I need to enjoy this and we just tried and we become champions and it was a very very good memory for me.

One of the special moments from the season was when we had the final with Bangalore and David Lee, my idol came to me, he told me "You play very well and you are a very good player" and that was like a Wow, awesome moment in my life.

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Q. You have played in different parts of the world, how is playing here in India different from other corners?

India for me is like another world, not another country. It's like another world. If you compare many religions, many states, and many languages, the people here are so warmer, more honest, and kinder. When they come to us for a picture, for an autograph, for shaking hands, for anything. They are really coming hard, they really like us, it's not like just pretending for a story or something on social media. No. you can really feel the kindness of them. Sometimes I wish that for the world actually. I wish my world was like this.

Q. Any grey area or an aspect you want to highlight which can be improved for the players playing in the Prime Volleyball League?

Actually, the first thing is that court is very hard. And we lost about, because, we use to wait before the start of the training and match, we lost two litres of water, and this increases the injury level. I think that can be bettered. It is not hard for the sponsors, the owners, or the CEOs, I know they can do it very easily. But it is so hard when we fall on the ground, it's a hard drop, it takes time, the match gets halted, players lose focus and maybe for the Indian climate the weather is fine but for professional Volleyball, it's not good. The major problem is when you fall on the ground, and you should pause the game, one side is slippery, and can't be dried, it's like 2-3 minutes of wasting time. 

Q. Since you are quite experienced, what instance would you recall as the greatest moment in your career?

I was playing in Iraq in 2016. I played in two positions, it was opposite and middle blocker, and at that time war was at large in Iraq. Like betting on my life and auctually I just went because it was really good money, and when we became champions that was very good for me. We became champions in Iraq and that was a very good memory for me because it was a hard time there and when I came back to Iran it was such a relief. The second one last year, was the best experience for me we had a good unit, we still are friends with Ahmedabad players, close friends, not just normal friends. We call each other once, twice, per week, we talk, we have video calls together, we have a good friendship with the manager and coach and we are still good friends. 

Last year was also great moment, actually one of the greatest moments. I have never forgotten, one of the newspapers featured the quotes of our coach S. Dakshinamoorthy. He talked about me in the interview. After two weeks, 3 weeks, I was in Iran, they sent me this interview and I was like, WHAT!, they did not forget me. They said, “Danial is world-class and we are so lucky to him him in our team.” It was very very valuable for me. 

Q. We tend you look at the highs of a sportsperson but we often don't pay much heed to the struggling period, so, if you would want to tell us something about the period which you deem was the most difficult in your life?

8 years ago I lost my mother. My mother passed away, and after that, I was like walking dead. Just breathing. It was the hardest part of my life. In some ways, this part made me quite stronger. I don't know whether there is a soul or not, I don't know whether there is another world or not, I don't know, and I don't want to talk about it, but if there is 1%, there is a world and my mother can watch me, I always try to make her happy. I choose my path, I choose my life to make her proud.

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Q. I've read your profile and it says it not a Volleyball player you would have been a UFC fighter, so what made you pick volleyball over MMA?

I like to be but I can't because UFC is so much hard. Before Volleyball, I was a fighter, but many years it was about, 16 years ago, I think it's not mine, it's so hard, UFC players train so hard. I don't know, maybe I'll try, but as a sport I love UFC.

Q. What made you pick Volleyball over other sports?

I was a kickboxer, it's not kickboxing, it's Hapkido. It's self-defence plus kickbox. The name is Hapkido. I went to a competition, in the Iran national competition, we had 5 matches and I was on the winning end in all five of them, and after that, I came second, and we were complaining about it but there was no answer to why we didn't fight with the first guy. I didn't fight, why did I become 2nd? We find out he was the son of some referee. I was very sad about this and when I came back home, my father told me, you fight very much outside, it's not your sport. I don't want you to pursue this kickboxing anymore, and I told him ok. My sister was a coach, my sister was a Volleyball player. After a stint as a player, she became a Volleyball coach and she inspired me to go and try maybe you will like it. After I had three training sessions, I started loving Volleyball.

Q. How different or taxing is the work regime of a Volleyball player Compared to Football, cricket, or combat sports athletes?

Actually, Volleyball is not as hard as football. Not hard like that, Football, I just read something about it, Football is 130 times dangerous more than boxing, because in the latter sport, you respect and defend a punch, but in Football, you are running and they will kick you. That's very hard, more injury-prone than others, football is really hard. It's not like just playing with the ball, there are so many strategies. Actually, I don't know the cricket rules, I cannot say about cricket but about football, you have to make quick decisions. Comparing that to Volleyball, same as football, we also get a few seconds to decide. maybe half a second, maybe less than half a second. All of the rolling of volleyball, including serve, reception, and attack, all of that combined and you just get two seconds for it. And you have to come up with all your decisions in just two seconds. Contrary to football, we work with all of our body. I think no sport is easy, there is no sport that you call it as an easy sport. Chess! No, it's not easy. I love Chess also but it's not easy.

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