The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : Punjab, Services in last four

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Thursday, Jan 19, 2006

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Sport - Volleyball

Punjab, Services in last four

M.C. Raman

Pune: Without much opposition in their last-round matches, Punjab and Services moved into men's semifinal knockout stage of the 54th Senior National volleyball championships from Group X at the Sri Chatrapathi Sports Complex here on Wednesday.

Uttaranchal topped Group Y beating Karnataka 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 in the men's section.

In the women's section, Kerala and Bengal moved into the semifinals from Group X.

Punjab men topped the group winning all their three matches. They played a five-setter against Tamil Nadu and won at 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-25, 15-13. But even before this match, the northern squad was safe with its two wins. Tamil Nadu was already out of reckoning, losing both its ties. On Tuesday night, Services beat it 3-1. That defeat virtually shut the doors on the former champion.

Similarly, it was a do-or-die battle for Haryana and Services. Services warded off a strong challenge from the defending champion 22-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-21 to take the No. 2 spot in Group X.

Lacking fighting spirit

Tamil Nadu lacked fighting spirit right from the beginning. It looked a disjointed unit and its loss to UP in the preliminary league exposed the inability to bring things under control. Tamil Nadu had the tendency to concede an initial lead, and then fight in the final stages. Not a good way to train a team. Barring setter Sundaram, all others were youngsters. But they never showed the same spirit like the Punjab team, comprising mostly youngsters. There was a vast difference between the approach of Punjab and Tamil Nadu players.

Karthikeyan, Kalaivanan, Manickaraj and blocker Shelton Moses tended to be more erratic and spiritless. Kalaivanan hit out even a free ball at a crucial stage on Wednesday. Only Nadarjan was doing the bulk of the scoring. Sayeekrishnan was sitting on the bench.

The match of the day

However, the real focus was on the Services-Haryana clash. It looked like the holder will have it easy with its clever spiking and block. But when the team came under pressure, the Haryana players began to dispute the decisions.

Services at this time, came back strongly to knock out the champion side. It was a tough fight and in every set there were neck and neck races. But Services raised its block so well to cripple the Haryana attack. It showed more control in the finishing stages. In fact, Haryana led 24-23 in the second set, but Services did not give up and made it in extra points.

Shijaz Mohammed spiked strongly as the match wore on. Rajil Mathew hit winners from near the antennas. Sarath Kumar and Ujwel Shetty blocked and spiked short balls with good control.

The results: Men: Group X: Services bt Tamil Nadu 25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21; Punjab bt Tamil Nadu 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-25, 15-13; Services bt Haryana 22-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-21; Group Y: Uttaranchal bt Karnataka 25-22, 25-19, 25-19.

Women: Group X: Kerala bt Tamil Nadu 25-20, 25-19, 25-15; Karnataka bt Delhi 25-19, 25-15, 25-17; Bengal bt Chandigarh 25-15, 25-22, 25-16; Group Y: Andhra bt Delhi 25-22, 25-20, 25-15.

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