61st Senior National Volleyball Championship: Tamil Nadu men, women make winning start

After a disappointing fourth place finish in last year’s edition, title favourties Tamil Nadu men began their campaign in the 61st National volleyball championship on a bright note, putting it across Railways 25-23, 23-25, 25-12, 25-15 in a group ‘A’ preliminary league clash at the Sawai Man Singh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur.

It was pretty much a closely fought contest in the first two sets as both teams won a set each, before Tamil Nadu began to dominate proceedings on the back of a superb team effort.

For Tamil Nadu, who were aiming for a hat-trick of title wins last year when they were pipped by Uttarakhand in the semifinals and even had gone on to lose the third place play-off tie to Services, came out with a magnificent brand of volleyball thanks to the rollicking form of their team’s tallest player G.R. Vaishnav, who stole the opening day show with robust attacks and blocks.

Vaishnav was ably supported by Naveen Raja Jacob. Tamil Nadu won many free points from Jacobs’ power-packed serves.

Railways appeared to be in the contest for the two games and did quite have the answers to the questions thrown by Tamil Nadu.

In fact, it was a good day in office for Tamil Nadu as their women’s team staged a splendid a come-from-behind 22-25, 25-7, 25-20, 25-20 win over Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile in other men’s league matches, Punjab got the better of Services 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15 in a Group B tie. Chhattisgarh humbled Jammu & Kashmir 25-14, 25-14, 25-22 while Andhra Pradesh beat Jharkhand 25-16, 25-21, 25-20 in Group C.

Gujarat crushed Assam 27-25, 25-21, 26-24 in Group D, while Delhi overwhelmed Himachal Pradesh 25-14, 25-19, 25-17 and Maharashtra downed Madhya Pradesh 25-18, 25-14, 25-12 in Group F.

Results (League Matches): Men: Group A: Tamil Nadu bt Railways 25-23, 23-25, 25-12, 25-15; Group B: Punjab bt Services 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15; Group C: Chhattisgarh bt Jammu & Kashmir 25-14, 25-14, 25-22; Andhra Pradesh bt Jharkhand 25-16, 25-21, 25-20; Group D: Gujarat bt Assam 27-25, 25-21, 26-24; Group F: Delhi bt Himachal Pradesh 25-14, 25-19, 25-17; Maharashtra bt Madhya Pradesh 25-18, 25-14, 25-12.

Women: Group A: Tamil Nadu bt Andhra Pradesh 22-25, 25-7, 25-20, 25-20; Group B: Himachal Pradesh bt West Bengal 20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18; Group C: Odisha bt Maharashtra 25-18, 25-15, 25-17; Group D: Rajasthan bt Jammu and Kashmir 25-5, 25-7, 25-2; Group E: Chandigarh bt Uttarakhand 25-10, 25-15, 25-9.