The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : Kerala makes it a grand double

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 06, 2006

Sport

Sport - Volleyball

Kerala makes it a grand double

Special Correspondent

THIRUTTANI: It was a grand double for Kerala in the South Zone senior volleyball championship at the Arulmigu Subramaniaswamy Devasthanam Cottage ground here on Saturday.

Thanks to its superior height advantage, Kerala men enjoyed a smooth run in the championship by pummelling rival teams with thundering smashes and superb blocks.

Unlike the women's section, which featured senior players, the men's event permitted only under-20 players. So the championship proved to be a testing ground for juniors.

Kerala women shine

The women's team from Kerala began on the backfoot against Andhra Pradesh and was trailing by eight points in the first set. However, the team found its rhythm soon and combined well to snuff out A.P.'s challenge 27-25, 25-23, 25-15 to capture the title it last won in 2004.

Tiuji Raju, Josmol Paul, Sreerekha and P.J. Jomol combined well in double block as Kerala wrested the initiative quickly despite A.P.'s strong attack.

Though Prajisha made her presence felt with her superb spiking, it was the strong blocks against Poongodi, Kavitha, Asia Sheikh and Swetha Reddy that tilted the scale in Kerala's favour.

It was a similar story in the men's section with Kerala men running away with the title by defeating last year's champion Karnataka 25-22, 25-20, 25-22.

Not blessed with a varied attack, Karnataka was over-dependant on Somath Girigowda and Girish. Kerala's tremendous advantage in blocking combined with Vijeesh and Shameem's spiking prowess heaped more pressure on Karnataka and the the defending champion just caved in.

Final standings:

Men: 1. Kerala 2. Karnataka 3. A.P.

Women: 1. Kerala 2. T.N. 3. A.P.

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