Tatyana Grachova (RUS)
Of Beauty
at the highest level |
| First
of all, the spelling. Her name has been printed as GRACHEVA,
GRATCHEVA, GRATCHOVA, and who knows what else. So how do you
pronounce it? Well, in Cyrillic, the “e” has an umlaut over
it “ë”, so it sounds like an “o”. Her name is therefore
pronounced “GRA-CHO-VA”. |
 |
Along
with Brazil’s Fernanda
Venturini, never have there been such beautiful
setters in the world at a time! The 94 World Championship
semifinal between Tatyana’s Russian team and Fernanda’s
Brazilian team was a celebration of both skill and beauty. The
Brazilian TV commentators went crazy over Tatyana, and soon the
buzz throughout Brazil was “HAVE YOU SEEN the new Russian
setter—she is absolutely GORGEOUS.”
But who wins? Tatyana or Fernanda? It’s definitely a matter of
taste. On the court though, Fernanda beat her Russian
counterpart in a five-game thriller that sent the home team to a
fateful final against Cuba. Nevertheless, Tatyana was nominated
as the tournament’s best setter, which seems a bit unfair
considering the rigid offence that Karpol made
Grachova run.
< Tatyana Grachova sets
Valentina Ogienko in a match against Japan. She rose to become
Russia's main setter after Marina Nikulina, and was elected Best
Setter at the 94 World Championships in Brazil. [FIVB Photo
Archives]
|
| Nikolai
Karpol’s system of play is such that ever since Irina
Parkhomchuk left the team, his setters have
played very limited, constrained roles within the team machine.
It seems as if Karpol stresses the functions of his outside
hitters more than anything else, thereby limiting the setters to
send ridiculously high balls outside or to the back row. The
only quick play is an occasional short slide. There aren’t
even many quick front "one" balls to the middle.
Karpol must see something incredibly effective in this
simplicity. Whereas the rest of the world is getting quicker and
more agile, the Russians seem to rely on power. The Cubans do
too, but even they are diversifying their attack a bit more.
Russia has been fixed with this style of play for almost a
decade, ever since the creative Parkhomchuk defected from the
USSR. Her successors, Marina Nikulina, Grachova,
Maria Likhtenshtein, and current setter Yelena Vassilievskaja
have all played the same way. Rigid. Soviet. |
| “Come
on Karpol! Let them play freely!” I yelled that out at the
Zimny Stadium in Saint Petersburg at the 94 Goodwill Games, much
to the disdain of the Russian public. Who the hell does this guy
think he is yelling such things at the respected Russian coach?
Well, it’s always amazed me how violent Karpol can get when
coaching his players. Short of slapping them in the face, he
terrorises them into action. Maybe that’s why they’re all so
stoic, almost expressionless on the court. And though I only saw
a certain number of matches, it seemed to me like Karpol yelled
more at Nikulina than at Grachova, maybe, and correct me if I’m
wrong, because Grachova was too beautiful to yell at. Maybe she
was Karpol’s protégé, or maybe he was just easy on her
because she was actually really good at the limited role
assigned to her. |
Grachova about to
serve... A number of people incessantly ask the internet's
international volleyball websites if it is true that Tatyana is
contemplating a return to the Russian team. The news so far is
that she's still playing volleyball in Russia, but she's
concentrating on her studies. [Photo TBD] |
| Or
maybe because Grachova had led the way for a new generation of
Russian players who have now matured into the best team on the
planet (after Cuba, of course, but they're so ahead of the
rest).
In the 91 Junior World
Championships in Czechoslovakia, Grachova was the setter for a
new wave of Russian players: Yevgeniya Artamonova, Yelena
Batukhtina, Inessa Yemelyanova, Natalia Morozova, and others. In
the final, they met the bi-champion team from Brazil, which then
was composed of such names as Léila Barros, Karin Negrão,
Hilma Caldeira, and Ana Paula Rodrigues. The USSR won, 3-0, and
broke Brazil’s streak at the Junior level. However, these two
generations would improve and infuse the senior teams with added
youthful energy, and ever since Brazil and Russia have staged
wonderful matches at the World Grand Prix, World Cups, World
Championships and the Olympics.
|
This is Tatyana's
autograph. I got it at the '94 Goodwill Games in Saint
Petersburg. |
Tatyana retired from
the Russian National Team sometime in 96 or 97, giving way to
Vassilievskaya and a newer bunch. I believe she got married.
Regardless, during the time she graced the international scene
with her solid setting and physical beauty, Russia smoothly
underwent a transition from the gold medal Seoul team to the
current gold medal contenders for Sydney. (With much help from Marina Nikulina,
but that's a different story.)
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