The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : Kannur and Thrissur corner glory

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Friday, Apr 22, 2005

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Kannur and Thrissur corner glory

Sports Reporter

Malappuram, Thiruvananthapuram finish second in State Youth championships

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kannur and Thrissur retained the men's and women's title respectively in the 20th State Youth Volleyball championships at the University College here on Friday.

Kannur ended the aspirations of Malappuram in a straight sets win to lift the boy's title while Thrissur came back from behind to defeat host Thiruvananthapuram in five sets.

Kannur was more methodical in its approach while Malappuram, which played well in patches, could not maintain its intensity consistently throughout the encounter. Kannur wrested control of the proceedings from the start as Malappuram's first pass and backcourt defence went awry. Kannur took a five-point lead and maintained it despite a late fight back from Malappuram.

Malappuram reorganised its game in the second set and led from the start. Kannur made a few errors at the backcourt and spikers Shabir and Rafi were inconsistent. Malappuram led 15-11 at one stage as Mithun and Kiran showed their spiking prowess. But the holder clawed its way back to level the scores at 18 and went on to win the second set at 25-21.

In the third set, the lead changed hands many times but Kannur breasted ahead after the scores were tied at 13-all. Errors crept into Malappuram's game and it conceded a few easy points to its rivals. Kannur easily wrapped up the set 25-17 and the match.

Earlier in the semifinals, Kannur overcame Wayanad 25-15, 25-9, 17-25, 25-22 while Malappuram defeated Kasaragod 21-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-21.

Thrissur staged a fine rally to upset the applecart of Thiruvananthapuram 16-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-13, 17-15 to win the girls' title.

Lack of depth

Thiruvananthapuram lacked the depth to trouble Thrissur which played as an unit. Thiruvananthapuram's fortune hinged on the form of its captain Jisha Jose and Anumol. The two were in fine form in the first two sets which Thiruvananthapuram won without much trouble. But as the match wore on, Jisha and Anumol ran out of steam and Thiruvananthapuram's plan went awry.

The backcourt defence was non-existent and first pass left a lot to be desired as Thrissur exploited the inherent weakness of its rival. Thrissur's Vigila, Joemol and Ruby Joseph were outstanding and did not waste any opportunity to score points.

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