Sport - Volleyball

National championships draw released

VISAKHAPATNAM: The draw for the 57th senior National volleyball championships, to be held here has been released. The knockout quarterfinals for men and women will be held on December 26 followed by semifinals on December 27 and finals on December 28.

The 27 men’s teams and 23 women’s teams that have confirmed their participation have been divided into six pools in each section.

The top three teams in A and B pools will qualify for the knockout stage straightaway while the fourth team in these top two pools along with toppers of other pools will fight for the remaining two quarterfinal berths through a play off to be held on December 24 and 25.

Defending champion Haryana and runner-up Tamil Nadu lead the top two pools.

The league matches will be held at the Port indoor stadium, GVMC Swarna Bharati indoor stadium, Andhra University gymnasium and the Ukku indoor stadium.

The knockout stage matches would be held at the Port indoor stadium.

The groupings: Men: Pool A: Haryana, Services, Railways and Uttaranchal. Pool B: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab and Karnataka. Pool C: AP, Chandigarh, Jharkhand and Gujarat. Pool D: UP, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. Pool E: Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar, Goa and Maharashtra. Pool F: Chhattisgarh, Delhi, J and K, Madhya Pradesh and Asom.

Women: Pool A: Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra and AP. Pool B: Railways, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh and Karnataka. Pool C: Rajasthan, UP, Mizoram and Jharkhand. Pool D: Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and MP. Pool E: Delhi, HP, Uttaranchal and Goa. Pool F: Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

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