The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : Haryana men clinch gold

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 14, 2007
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Sport

Sport - Volleyball

Haryana men clinch gold

Special Correspondent

ONE FOR THE ALBUM: The victorious Kerala women's volleyball team. — Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

GUWAHATI: Haryana men came from behind to beat Services 19-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-17, 21-19 in the final and clinch the gold in the volleyball competition of the 33rd National Games at the Karambir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi indoor stadium here on Tuesday. Kerala women annexed their fourth title defeating Tamil Nadu 25-20, 25-16, 25-14.

If the men's final was a close affair, the women's summit clash was rather one-sided with Kerala dominating the show. Tamil Nadu women, who have won the title four times, failed to match the all-round performance of Kerala in an hour-long match.

Down two sets, Haryana men fought back to take the next three sets but not before Services put up a sterling show in the decider which had the 3,000 spectators on the edge of their seats.

Over reliance

Services' over reliance on spiker Shijas P. Mohammed proved to be its undoing as the powerful striker looked a tired man by the end of the third set. Services won the first two sets on excellent backcourt defence provided by Rajil Mathew, Siju Joseph and libero Arun Jakhmola.

Sanjay Kumar, who smashed a stream of winners from the second and fourth zones for Haryana in the later stages of the contest, was blocked by two-man and at times three-man block of Services in the earlier sets. But once Shijas Mohammed went out in the third set, things turned in Haryana's favour with Sanjay Kumar, Sube Singh and Amir Singh coming into their own.

With the teams tied at two sets all, it looked like Services would just cave in. But it was not to be.

From 15-all, Haryana managed to keep the lead with percentage play. After the two referees bungled at 13-13, the teams took turns to threaten the match officials. Better sense, however, prevailed and the game continued only for Haryana to take the title when the best player of the match, Shijas Mohammed smashed wide.

The results: Final: Men: Haryana bt Services 19-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-17, 21-19. Third: place: Kerala bt TN 25-22, 25-20, 32-30. Women: Kerala bt TN 25-20, 25-16, 25-14. Third place: West Bengal bt Assam 25-20, 25-16, 25-14.