Sport - Basketball

Indian Navy has the last laugh

Bargur: Indian Navy (Kochi) struck form at the right time to oust Indian Bank (Chennai) 23-25, 25-27, 28-26, 25-19, 18-16 in an absorbing men’s match of the 12th National league volleyball championship (final leg) at the GGHSS courts here on Friday.

With Shiju Joseph and Shijas Mohammed gaining the grip at the net, Indian Navy raced to a 14-10 lead. But two firing performances by Kalaivannan and Sayeekrishnan turned out to be the starting point of IB’s comeback.

Holding together despite the pressure and being a team rather than a bunch of individuals, Indian Bank bounced back brilliantly to take the set 25-23. After losing out to Indian Overseas Bank on Thursday, Indian Navy was desperate not to lose control of another match.

That saw it play with a lot more vigour in the second set, but Indian Bank had a solution to every difficult problem. It maintained the pressure and rallied well to go two sets up.

Stung by the reverse, Indian Navy, thanks to gutsy performances by its attackers pulled one back. But it came with a lot of struggle.

The fourth was much easier though as Indian Bank failed in both reception and block, which had looked solid at the start.

In the heart-stopping deciding set, Navy marched to a seven-point lead (8-1) but allowed Indian Bank to crawl back midway through before clinching the set and match 18-16.

On Thursday, Indian Overseas Bank maintained a clean slate defeating a fighting Indian Navy 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 in 83 minutes.

Naveen Jacob Raja, who is enjoying a fine run in the tournament, turned out to be the tormentor for Indian Navy. Shelton Moses played an equally effective role at the net for the Bankmen.

The results: Men: Indian Navy (Kochi) bt Indian Bank (Chennai) 23-25, 25-27, 28-26, 25-19, 18-16; IOB (Chennai) bt Indian Navy 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19.

Women: C. Rly (Mumbai) bt E. Rly (Kolkata) 25-22, 25-18, 25-21.

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