Date:22/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/22/stories/2008112261241800.htm

Sport - Volleyball

State volleyball championship from Monday

Chennai: The Sathyabhama University-State senior men’s and women’s volleyball championship, organised by the Tamil Nadu State Volleyball Association with support from Nellai Friends, will go on stage at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on November 24. The finals are scheduled for November 30.At a media briefing on Friday, Walter I. Dawaram, explained the salient features of the prestigious competition, which returns to the city after a gap of six years. The seven teams, which figured in the quarterfinals last year, are seeded directly into the last eight. The remaining 50 are divided into 16 pools. After a complex round of preliminary matches, two teams will move into the last eight, with the last team from the top seven slipping out.

In the women’s category, the 24 in the fray are divided into eight pools of three each and the top eight teams will go into the quarterfinal. IOB and Dr. Sivanthi Club are the reigning men’s and women’s champions. .

TN squad

The following will represent Tamil Nadu in the sub-junior inter-State table tennis championship to be held at Vijayawada from November 24 to 30:

The team: Sub-juniors: Boys: D. Sameera Kumar, R. Anandraj, M. Kalaivanan; Girls: S. Narasimha Priya, T. Reeth Rishya, Amruta Pushpak; Cadets: Boys: Sachin Viswanath, V. Abinay, S. Nikhil; Girls: Abinaya Ramesh, Harshavardhini, Kritika Raja.

Coaches: V. Suresh Kumar, Andrew, C. Sathyamurthy.

Double for Sivananda

Sivananda Seshadri won the men’s and youth boys’ titles in the State table tennis championship held at Tirupur.

The results (all finals): Men: Sivananda Seshadri (FCI/LTTA) bt S. Prasanna (PSBB) 11-5, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Women: Swetha Kumaravel (IB) bt N. Vidya (SDAT-Akg) 11-13, 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 12-10, 11-9.

Youth: Boys: Sivananda bt R.S. Raja (SDAT-C) 15-13, 11-7, 13-11, 11-4; Girls: Swetha bt Sathyabama (SDAT–Akg) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.

Juniors: Girls: Sumana R. Krishnan (Ransa) bt V. Sneha (Ransa) 13-11, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8.

Sub-juniors: Boys: R. Anandhraj (SDAT Akg) bt D. Sameera Kumar (NLC) 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6; Girls: T. Reetha Rishya (SDAT Akg) bt S. Narasimha Priya (PSBB) 12-10, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.

Cadets: Boys: Sachin Viswanath (Ransa) bt V. Abinay (YMCA-K) 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4; Mini-cadets: Boys: P. Premchand (NLC) bt A. Shrikrishna (Ransa) 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8; Girls: Abinaya Ramesh (Erode) bt P. Pavithra (SDAT Akg) 11-3, 11-4, 11-5.

Goalless draw

No goals were scored in Thursday’s CHA first division hockey matches with BSNL Chennai Telephones and AG Friends playing out a goalless draw and Toronto HC getting a walk-over from Youth Wing.