Sport
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Volleyball
Railways prevails over Tamil Nadu
By M.C. Raman
Mini Elizabeth of Railways smashes past Uma of Tamil Nadu in the first semifinal in the Federation Cup volleyball tournament in Payyanur on Friday. - Photo: K. Gajendran
PAYYANUR, FEB. 8. For once women players took the centre stage in the 24th Federation cup volleyball tournament as the full house (about 13,000) erupted time and again. And the team that took its game to dizzy heights was Tamil Nadu, which lost its semifinal to Railways, after setting two match points.
When the exciting match was over the Railways felt as if it was escaped from a murderer's stranglehold. Such was the challenge that Tamil Nadu threw at the National champion, which finally managed to win at 29-27, 24-26, 21-25, 25-20, 18-16 at the Govt. Boys school ground here on Friday.
Punjab men in final
Punjab moved into the men's final beating Kerala 28- 26, 25-19, 25-13 in 50 minutes.
It was a big surprise that Tamil Nadu combined so well and fought so confidently. Gayathri was the woman of the match. The tie slowly turned into a tussle between the Railways and Gayathri the way the 2000 National championship women's final was between the Railways and Andhra's Radhika.
Gayathri, a slim girl without much power, showed that it is possible to put the Railways on the mat if there is a stout heart to do it. Whether it was spiking or block she was there to rattle the rivals.
In addition, Sindhu added considerable strength to the former champion's offence. She was hitting across and the Railways players were unable to retrieve. But much of the credit for breathtaking rallies, brilliant attacks and sharp counter- attacks should go to both the liberos. If Railways libero Latha was a tenacious woman, Tamil Nadu's Devi was superb in retrieving everything in the back court.
Geetha Raju's patchy performance as main spiker led to Railways' struggle. Tamil Nadu lost the first set after taking a 24-23 lead over extra points. That finish was the longest in the tournament and the set took 27 minutes. But in the next two sets, Tamil Nadu was right on top, spiking, dropping and defending with so much confidence that was not seen in recent years.
When the Tamil Nadu coach removed setter Nadhiya and sent in Lakshmi the attack got even stronger. Uma was sharp in net defence and she did really well at crucial stages. Tamil Nadu, playing with perfect understanding, took a 7-3 lead in the decider and the crowd egged the team on for more.
On two occasions Tamil Nadu was well set to pull off the biggest upset in the women's competition when it led 14-13 and 15-14. It was the most experienced Salomi Ramu who was stabilising the Railway attack, despite Tamil Nadu's strong block. Hemalatha and Shiji came good at the right time to save the Railways.
Once again the efficiency of the umpires was tested and some bad decisions did affect the teams. In fact, the teams are unhappy with the officiating here. Only two outstation referees are here and that is not fair, the coaches feel.
Karnataka makes Railways sweat
This morning the National champion Railways, which has been struggling along, found Karnataka's challenge too strong, but just about managed to beat the rival at 11-25, 27-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-8 in 72 minutes. It could finish only runner-up to Kerala in Group A and made it to the knock-out.
The Railway men team's campaign is not as smooth as it was in the National championship a month ago at Raipur. Its defence is shaky and its attack is not sharp enough to fetch points. The fact that Karnataka could challenge it so strongly and that when its No. 1 setter Ravindran sprained his ankle and was carried out of the ground in the first half itself.
Karnataka carried on with its No. 2 setter Edwin admirably. Undoubtedly it was a commanding performance by Karnataka. The problem today was that its main spiker Lakshminarayana was rather subdued and that affected the team's chances badly, particularly in the decider.
Railways is yet to impress in this tournament. It is a team that has been affected by the absence of its two main setter Ravikanth Reddy and Kapil Devi, who can also block and attack. Still setter Abubecker has done a good job so far, despite the erratic first pass. But the Railways' defence strength has been reduced considerably as only Sudhakar and Sunil Kumar have to fill the gap left by Ravikanth and Kapil. It was because of this shaky that the Railways had suffered in the matches, losing one to Kerala.
Kerala men jolts Railways
Kerala pulled off the biggest upset when it combined superbly to down the current National champion Railways 25-21, 20-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-12 and top men's Group A in the most exciting match of Thursday evening at the Govt. Boys School ground here.
It was a threat that was visualised before, and the Railways fell victim, unable to cope with Kerala's sustained onslaught. And the flagbearer of the attack was Tom Joseph. But the credit should go to the whole team for keeping its nerve even under tremendous pressure.
For the first time Railways was under pressure. The Railways' defence was really stretched and Sudhakar, Sunil Kumar, setter Abubucker, Sivarajan and Bairavan found the going tough.
The results: Men: Group A: Railways beat Karnataka 11-25, 27-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-8.
Women's semifinal: Railways beat Tamil Nadu 29-27, 24-26, 21-25, 25-20, 18-16.
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