The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : Shaky start by Railways

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Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
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Sport - Volleyball

Shaky start by Railways

Kirti Patil

In Group D, Delhi emerged the front-runner
Haryana coach Om Prakash disqualified

JAIPUR: Defending champion Railways made a shaky start to its campaign, but recovered in time to score its first win while beating Punjab in four sets in the men’s Group A league match in the 56th National volleyball championship here.

The ever-aggressive Punjab won the opening set 27-25. But K.J. Kapil Dev, P.V. Sunil Kumar and R. Manikandan helped Railways rally from there.

Railways won the next three sets 25-15, 25-21, 25-19.

A humdinger

The 2002 champion Uttarakhand, the most entertaining side with international Y. Subba Rao in the ranks, was taken to the distance by hugely-improved Karnataka. With captain Mithlesh Kumar, spikers Avnish Kumar Yadav and Abhijit Bhattacharya, and libero Satish Kumar performing well, it was a humdinger of a battle.

Uttarakhand won the first two sets with an identical 26-24 score-line. Karnataka staged a confident rally taking the next two 25-20, 25-15 before Subba Rao ensured Uttarakhand’s win by taking the decider 15-7.

In the lower groups, the position became still unclear with the teams that won first matches lost the second league match leaving the qualification wide open. Only in Group D, Delhi emerged the front-runner.

Delhi, which beat Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, rallied to beat Himchal Pradesh in four sets after losing the opener 21-25. Delhi then took the next three 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 to score its second win.

Railways women on top

In the women’s section, defending champion Railways registered its second straight win when it beat Andhra Pradesh in straight sets to take the top spot in Group A. Railways women needed just 58 minutes to subdue Andhra Pradesh 25-17, 25-14, 25-15.

Meanwhile, the Control Committee of the National championship here, disqualified Haryana coach Om Prakash from the championship and banned its captain Amir Singh from next two matches, for verbally abusing match referee P.K. Jaganathan after losing their Group B league match against Services on Monday night.

The results: Men: Group A: Railways bt Punjab 25-27, 25-15, 25-21, 25-19; Uttarakhand bt Karnataka 26-24, 26-24, 20-25, 15-25, 15-7.

Group C: Madhya Pradesh bt Bihar 25-19, 25-27, 25-20, 20-25, 15-9.

Group D: Delhi bt Himachal Pradesh 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-22. Assam bt Jammu and Kashmir 18-25, 25-14, 25-23, 22-25, 15-6.

Group E: Chhattisgarh bt Orissa 25-14, 25-20, 25-15; Gujarat bt Andaman and Nicobar 25-13, 25-15, 25-16.

Group F: Uttar Pradesh bt Jharkhand 25-22, 25-16, 25-18; Puducherry bt Goa 25-23, 15-25, 25-13, 25-15.

Women: Group A: Railways bt Andhra Pradesh 25-17, 25-14, 25-15. Bengal bt Andhra Pradesh 25-20, 25-23, 25-22.

Group B: Tamil Nadu bt Chandigarh 25-14, 25-18, 25-13.

Group C: Himachal Pradesh bt Orissa 25-9, 25-11, 25-9.

Group D: Rajasthan bt Assam 25-8, 25-19, 25-11; Haryana bt Chhattisgarh 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16.

Group E: Gujarat bt Mizoram 23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 16-25, 19-17.

Group F: Jharkhand bt Uttarakhand 25-14, 25-13, 25-10.

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