Kerala, Railways start as favourites at 61st Senior National Volleyball Championship
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Big-time volleyball returned to Jaipur as the 61st Senior National Volleyball Championship got underway in the city today. The championship will run till January 15.
It is only the third time that the Senior Nationals are being held in Rajasthan. Earlier, the Senior Nationals were staged at Udaipur in 1968-69 and at Jaipur in 2007.
According to former Indian spiker and Rajasthan Volleyball Association general secretary Ramavtar Singh Jakhar, the Senior Nationals would attract the leading lights of Indian volleyball.
The championship features as many as 25 teams in the men’s section. Reigning champions Kerala and runners up Uttarakhand are expected to be strong title contenders.
In the 2011 Senior Nationals held in Raipur, Kerala pipped Uttarakhand 25-22, 25-22, 25-13 to clinch their fourth title, their first after a gap of 11 years. The last time they won the nationals, it was also held in Raipur in 2011.
The women’s section features 23 teams. Defending champions Railways and runners-up Kerala would be strong contenders this time around, especially Railways, who have won the women’s crown for four years on the trot and 27 times overall.
Last year, Railways crushed Kerala 25-12, 25-14, 25-16.
The organizers have also informed that many former international players and Arjuna awardees would also be felicitated during the championship.
Teams:
Men: Group A: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Railways, Haryana; Group B: Uttarakhand, Services, Punjab, Karnataka; Group C: Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir; Group D: Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Assam; Group E: Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar, Mizoram; Group F: West Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh.
Women: Group A: Railways, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka; Group B: Kerala, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh; Group C: Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana; Group D: Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir; Group E: Jharkhand, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh; Group F: Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Bihar.