Friday, Nov 29, 2002
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Volleyball
By Kirti Patil
The Petroleum spiker was in a different league as Uttaranchal set aside a gutsy Rajasthan 3-0 in a qualification match, and earned the right to play Uttar Pradesh, the fourth-placed team from Group `B', in a play-off for the quarterfinal berth in the men's section. Subba Rao took the court for brief periods, and during his stay in the middle Rajasthan found it difficult to pierce the wall raised by Uttaranchal. The reputation Rajasthan had earned during its league matches fell flat as Subba Rao and Avinash Kumar Yadav squeezed points at will. Rajasthan, which showed great fighting spirit by winning both its Group `C' league matches from being two sets down, hardly found its touch on Thursday. Blockers Sunil Kumar Jakhar and Diwan Singh formed a porous wall as the towering Subba Rao spiked through their stretched arms many a time. The first was a regulation set, Uttaranchal winning it 25-14. In the second, Avinash dazzled with some fine retrievals as Uttaranchal raced to 25-12 in under 15 minutes. Rajasthan did provide some glimpses of its reputation it earned in the league phase, but the effort came little too late and Uttaranchal won the third set 25-21. Subba Rao, who shifted his allegiance from Delhi after the ONGC moved its headquarters to Dehra Dun, will have a more challenging task when Uttaranchal meets Uttar Pradesh in a pre-quarterfinal match on Friday. In the other play-off match, Andhra Pradesh downed Chandigarh 25-19, 25-15, 25-14, and will now meet Karnataka in the pre-quarters. Playing without the indisposed Joby Joseph, who struggled to cope up with the kind of food available here, Tamil Nadu just about escaped against Services, in its final Group `B' league match. Joby was totally drained and without him Tamil Nadu seemed helpless. Services skipper Sijas P. Mohammed and Saji Kumar wouldn't give any room for Tamil Nadu to rest in. Winning points against the serves, almost at will, Services was also propelled by good blocking by Saji and Sunil Kumar. After a disputed line call, Services won the longest set so far played in this championship, at 30-28. As the adrenaline rose high, Services went for the kill. It executed some good tactics by placing Saji and Siju Joseph at the net, leaving Sunil Kumar to do most of the spiking. International libero Arun Jagmola proved the vital link as he picked up some grounders. In a close finish, Services won the second essay 25-22 and it looked that all was over for Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu spiker M. S. Rajesh, for some inexplicable reasons, was subdued. For the most part of the first two sets he sat on the bench. He took the court when Tamil Nadu was in dire straits but was still ineffective. Thanks to Manokaran and Thulasi Reddy, Tamil Nadu made inroads into the third set and just about changed the course of the match. It sneaked to a 25-23 verdict in the third and then held Services to 25-21 to square the scores. A tried Sijas netted couple of crucial points as Services found the going tough in the decider. Tamil Nadu displayed good blocking while Services the paid price for outrageous smashes. The win gave Tamil Nadu second position in Group `B' with nine points. It, however, set up a mouth-watering quarterfinal against host Haryana. Services, which had a bronze finish in the previous Nationals in Raipur, meets Kerala in the other quarterfinal. Punjab, with a clean record, topped the group with 10 points. Services, with eight points, also made it to the quarters. Matching Punjab, the defending champion, Railways also kept its slate clean and qualified to the last eight stage with 10 points from Group `A'. Also make the grade were Kerala and Haryana. In its last league match, Railways virtually toyed with Karnataka. It won 25-19, 25-15, 25-18 in 46 minutes. Using its second line of attack, Railways tested all its bench-warmers. The match against Karnataka offered good opportunity for Railways to experiment and weigh in its second string. The way the reserves played, surely would not have amused the Railways coach, Sheikh Karimullah. In the women's section, all the top two teams in each groups won their respective matches and claimed their rightful positions. But, who plays whom in the quarterfinals will be decided only on the basis on toss early of Friday morning. The results: Men: Group A: Haryana bt Madhya Pradesh 25-18, 25-18, 25-17; Railways bt Karnataka 25-19, 25-15, 25-18; Kerala bt Delhi 25-21, 25-18, 25-20. Group B: Tamil Nadu bt Services 28-30, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-11; Uttar Pradesh bt Himachal Pradesh 25-22, 25-15, 25-21; Punjab bt Chhattisgarh 25-16, 25-19, 29-27. Qualification matches: Uttaranchal bt Rajasthan 25-14, 25-12, 25-21; Andhra Pradesh bt Chandigarh 25-19, 25-15, 25-14. Women: Group A: Madhya Pradesh bt Gujarat 25-14, 25-12, 25-10; Railways bt West Bengal 25-7, 25-9, 25-13; Uttar Pradesh w.o Arunachal Pradesh. Group B: Kerala bt Chandigarh 25-15, 26-24, 25-21; Delhi w.o Goa; Maharashtra bt Bihar 25-11, 25-8, 25-19. Group C: Himachal Pradesh bt Rajasthan 25-15, 25-11, 25-12; Uttaranchal bt Jammu and Kashmir 25-5, 25-5, 25-13; Tamil Nadu bt Punjab 25-15, 25-19, 25-20. Group D: Karnataka bt Andhra Pradesh 25-18, 30-28, 21-25, 23-25, 15-9; Haryana bt Orissa 25-16, 25-12, 25-19; Chhattisgarh bt Jharkhand 25-10, 25-14, 25-14.
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