Delhi shocked Andhra Pradesh in a men's Group C match as the 60th senior National volleyball championship began at the Balbir Juneja Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.
On a day of one-sided matches, Delhi recovered remarkably to put it across Andhra. The latter took the first game 25-23 despite making a lot of unforced errors. Delhi stormed back to take the second 25-23.
Storming back
Delhi gifted away points in the third as Andhra pulled ahead by winning the game 25-22.
However, poor blocking and unimaginative spiking did not help Andhra's cause as it lost the next two games 23-25, 12-15 in a contest that laster nearly two hours.
In the women's section, Maharashtra began its campaign in style, blanking Bihar 3-0 in Group C.
The big guns, which have been placed in Group A and B, will get into action on Thursday with men's defending champion, Tamil Nadu facing Karnataka and women's champion Railways taking on Himachal Pradesh.
Chhattisgarh governor, Shekhar Dutt, declared the event open.
The results: Men: Group C: Delhi bt AP 23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 25-12.
Group D: Rajasthan bt Bihar 25-15, 25-22, 25-23. Group E: Jharkhand bt Gujarat 25-20, 26-24, 18-25, 25-22.
Group F: Assam bt Maharashtra 13-25, 25-21, 25-13, 15-17.
Women: Group C: Maharashtra bt Bihar 25-15, 25-7, 25-16; Group D: Haryana w/o Goa; Group E: Delhi bt J&K 25-6, 25-9, 25-14.
Group F: Chandigarh bt Mizoram 22-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-19.