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Volleyball
Services has an easy time
By M.C. Raman
CHENNAI, DEC. 22. Pleasant weather laced with a bit of hot sun, a quiet and not so dusty playing arena and four well-laid out courts made the job of leading outfits easy on the second day of the 50th senior National volleyball championship at the Netaji Stadium here on Saturday. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Services and Railways notched up their second wins in the men's section and are ready for bigger battles. In the women's section, Railways, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bengal continued to surge ahead with easy victories.
Against current international Shijas Mohammed's onslaught Delhi crumbled in three straight sets (25-19, 25-21-25- 23) to Services in Group `B'. Don't write off the Services too soon.
Tamil Nadu's 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 win over Madhya Pradesh in Group B should have come easily. But the former National champion offered more negative points after taking a 5-0 lead in the second set. Poor service and bad defence in the back court saw Tamil Nadu surrender points. But the team managed to maintain its rhythm and wrap up the match quickly. Karnataka huffed and buffed for its 25-22, 25-23, 25-18 victory over Chandigarh in Group B mainly because of confusion on court. It took some time to launch its attack while Chandigarh's was nothing to rave about either.
Railways played rather leisurely against Himachal Pradesh, which does not belong to the elite group. The qualifying teams hardly try to improve their standard of play and go down again. Railways took less than one hour to register a 25-14, 25- 19, 25-19 win over the rival.
However, in the morning Haryana asserted its superiority over Andhra Pradesh in Group C. This win clearly puts Harayana ahead for qualification as it has crossed a major hurdle.
Punjab managed to put it across Uttar Pradesh at 24- 26, 25-27, 25-12, 25-20, 15-12 in a Group A encounter after the latter exposed chinks in Punjab's armour. In the same group, Kerala, the holder, recorded its second win when it beat Bengal at 25-22, 25-18, 29-27.
In three women's Group A matches Maharashtra beat Uttar Pradesh 25-21, 26-24, 25-21, Bengal prevailed over Rajasthan 25-16, 25-10, 25-7 and Andhra defeated Pondicherry 25- 7, 25-5, 25-7.
The results: Men: Gr. A: Railways bt HP 25-14, 25-19, 25-19. Gr. B: Karnataka bt Chandigarh 25-22, 25-23, 25-18; Services bt Delhi 25-19, 25-21, 25-23; Tamil Nadu bt Madhya Pradesh 25-17, 25-16, 25-18. Gr. C: Haryana bt Andhra 25-19, 25- 18, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13. Gr. D: Orissa bt Rajasthan 25-19, 19-25, 20-25, 25-17, 18-16; Chhatisgarh bt Bihar 25-13, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21; Goa bt J&K 24-26, 25-14, 25-23, 25-17.
Women: Gr. A: Andhra bt Uttar Pradesh 25-19, 25-21, 25-6; Bengal bt Pondicherry 25-7, 25-0, 25-6; Maharashtra bt Rajasthan 25-19, 25-17, 26-24. Gr. B: Railways bt Punjab 25-11, 25-8, 25-10; Gujarat bt Jharkhand 25-18, 26-24, 25-19; Haryana bt Delhi 26-24, 25-19, 14- 25, 23-25, 15-11. Gr. C: HP bt Bihar 25-17, 25-13, 25-16. Gr. D: Orissa w/o Assam; Kerala bt MP 25-23, 25-17, 25-22; Tamil Nadu bt Uttranchal 25-19, 25-11, 25-11.
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