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Haryana overcomes Kerala in a thriller
Tamil Nadu lost its second league match
In women’s, Kerala won back to back matches
JAIPUR: A downcast Haryana set aside its ‘silent protest’ for a while and showed it had the fire to quell any challenge at the 56th National volleyball championship here on Wednesday. Haryana recovered to beat last year’s runner-up Kerala in their Group B league match 18-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21, to register its first win.
After losing to Services, Haryana was put in a spot of bother when its coach Om Prakash and captain Amir Singh were banned for using abusive language against the officiating referee.
Om Prakash has since been on a hunger strike, sitting in front of the stadium. The team had almost decided to quit but Om Prakash insisted on playing on.
Vibin M. George, K.J. Jaya Lal and Tom Joseph’s drop volleys and smashes saw Kerala win the opening set 25-18 with consummate ease.
But Haryana returned with a vengeance in the second. Raghuveer Singh, Dinesh Kumar Singh and Sube Singh’s smashes left Kerala in a daze.
Vibin, who was at the net to block the returns, committed several unforced errors in this pressure situation and gave away easy points.
With the score 1-1, Haryana never looked back and pumped in winners through Raghuveer Singh and Sube Singh, with libero Vinod Negi providing ample backup in picking up the deep returns.
TN loses againTamil Nadu lost its second league match in Group B despite staging a great rally to almost throttle Services after being down by two sets.
Siva Balan, Sathish Kumar and captain Shelton Moses set up Tamil Nadu’s recovery in the third set after Services had taken the first two 25-20, 25-23.
Sathish Kumar was the chief architect in Tamil Nadu’s recovery as the former champion took the next two sets 25-23, 25-17. The way Tamil Nadu upped its game it looked as if Services had given up the fight. But at 10-10 in the decider, Tamil Nadu committed silly errors and overshot smashes to hand Services four match points.
Tamil Nadu saved one, but it was all over when Siju Joseph fired the winning smash.
In the women’s section, Kerala won back to back matches on Tuesday night and on Wednesday to firm up its position in Group B. With two wins the last year’s runner-up, is on the top of the group.
Rajasthan women defeated Chhattisgarh 3-1 in 96 minutes to top Group D. It will await the winner of Group C for the pre-quarterfinal qualifying match.
The results:
Men: Group A: Punjab bt Karnataka 25-21, 25-18, 25-18.
Group B: Haryana bt Kerala 18-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21. Services bt Tamil Nadu 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 17-25, 15-11.
Group C: Andhra Pradesh bt Maharashtra 25-11, 25-15, 25-21.
Group D: Rajasthan bt Delhi 23-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-18.
Group E: Bengal bt Orissa 25-23, 30-32, 19-25, 25-15, 15-8. Chhattisgarh bt Gujarat 25-15, 25-21, 25-17.
Group F: Chandigarh bt Jharkhand 25-23, 25-17, 25-23. Uttar Pradesh bt Goa 25-23, 25-14, 25-9.
Women: Group A: Bengal bt Delhi 25-13, 27-25, 25-18.
Group B: Kerala bt Chandigarh 25-14, 25-15, 25-16. Kerala bt Maharashtra 25-17, 25-10, 25-17.
Group C: Karnataka bt Himachal Pradesh 25-18, 25-18, 25-16.
Group D: Rajasthan bt Chhattisgarh 25-20, 25-17, 25-27, 25-19.
Group E: Punjab bt Uttar Pradesh 25-19, 25-22, 12-25, 25-17.
Group F: Bihar bt Madhya Pradesh 25-20, 22-25, 25-12, 25-14.
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