The Hindu : Sport : India finally in semifinals

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Thursday, Aug 02, 2007
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Sport

India finally in semifinals

S. Sabanayakan

The host cruises against travel-weary Nigerians

— Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

IN THE THICK OF ACTION: Pakistan libero Ashfaq Hussain retrieves one as Naseer Ahmed (jersey no. 10) and Farooq Khan (no. 6) look on.

KOLKATA: The late inclusion of Nigeria did not alter the semifinal qualifiers from Group A as both Australia and India made short work of the African challenge in the second Commonwealth volleyball championship at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.

Pakistan defeated South Africa to top Group B and will play the second placed team from Group A in the last four.

Crucial test

For India the crucial test would be on Thursday when it would play Australia to decide the group champion as both the teams have won three matches each.

A win for India would see it taking on South Africa or else it would be an India-Pakistan semifinal on Friday.

India, which played G. Pradeep, Sanjay Kumar, Gurchand Singh, K.J. Kapil Dev, P.S. Srikanth and libero R. Sivarajan in the first set against Nigeria, proved to be too good for the travel-weary Africans.

From 4-3, India jumped to 21-5 before winning the set at 25-6 in 14 minutes.

Coach Sridharan changed the combination in the second set, taking out Sanjay Kumar and Kapil Dev in favour Mandeep Singh and M. Ukkrapandian.

This combination struggled a bit, especially with the setting of Ukkrapandian. The Indians’ blocking too was found wanting and Nigeria ran India close before losing the set 19-25.

Juniors shine

In the third set, India brought in Vibin M. George, N. Shelton Moses, Pandian, Jitendra Singh, Mandeep and libero Sivarajan in place of all the seniors.

They performed better and took the set at 25-15 in 19 minutes for an easy victory.

“I am satisfied with the way the boys played,” said Sridharan.

“India will have to deliver against Australia tomorrow. For that the team’s blocking has to be good,” he added.

South Africa did not look sharp against Pakistan.

There were many unforced errors from the South Africans, especially in spiking and serving, while Pakistan was consistent both in attack and defence.

Poor strategy

What let down South Africa was the team’s poor strategy in blocking. Pakistan switched to high and low ball attacks to caught the South African defence napping.

Farooq Khan and Chiya Freedom, with 13 points each, were the best scorers for Pakistan and South Africa respectively.

The West Bengal Volleyball Association (WBVA) has decided to felicitate 21 Arjuna and two Dronacharya Award winners on Friday.

The organising committee has also decided to advance the start of the third/fourth place match and the final game on Saturday by an hour to 3 and 5 p.m. to facilitate an early departure of the South African team.

The results: