CHITTORGARH: A double in 2004 had opened the gates for Haryana's players to showcase their volleyball skills beyond the Indian borders. A year on, the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) still remains the best bet to grab the National super league title here.

Five teams in the men's section and four in women's will vie for the top honours at the 10th National super league volleyball championship that opens here on Wednesday.

If Amir Singh is the face of HSIDC, lanky Y. Subba Rao leads a pack of brash but talented Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) personnel who have the potential to upstage any opposition.

Meanwhile, Tom Joseph, V. Arul and A. Ismail will look to set the record straight for Kochi Refineries Ltd. after finishing runner-up to HSIDC in the last super league championship at Hassan.

After that win HSIDC got a spot in the Asian Club championship held in Pakistan earlier this year.

The Volleyball Federation of India's (VFI) initiative to lobby and book a spot for the Indian league champion in the continental club championship has been a welcome change from the past when the top eight states from the Nationals fought in the super league championship.

Still, Punjab Police took an improbable decision to withdraw from the championship at the eleventh hour.

The teams:

Men: Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC), Kochi Refineries Ltd. (KRL), Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) (Chennai), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) (Dehra Dun) and Cochin Port Trust.

Women: Western Railways (WR) (Mumbai), Central Railway (CR) (Solapur), Kerala State Electricity Bord (KSEB) and Southern Railway (Chennai).

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