SDAT ‘A', all boys trained through the school of excellence, provided an exhibition of all-round efficiency to carve out a comfortable 25-23, 25-14 win over ICF ‘A' in the men's final of the Panimalar P. John memorial all India volleyball tournament here on Saturday.
For the fans, many of whom were still to settle down, the ‘triples' contest seemed a big let down. Such was the domination of the SDAT trio of Balamurugan, Karthick and Rajkumar.
If Balamurugan was sharp in his high-ball spiking then Rajkumar was superb in his jump ball serve, reeling away points at will. By the half way stage, the ICF trio of Dilip, Boopathy and Prabhakaran looked a beaten lot.
The ‘triples' format is something of a novelty in an official tournament, though it has been in vogue in the interior parts of the state. Recognised by the World body, the triples format has considered a welcome move to help players to tone up their skills, be it in the attack, defence or in taking serves.
To start with, there was near equality in the level of play but when Rajkumar got going with his quickish serves he had virtually driven a big hole in the rival defence. Umpteen times his serves went without the right response. While points went neck and neck for most of first game, ICF was down quite early in the second. SDAT stretched the lead from 9-5 and steadily completed the task. Earlier, for the third place, Central Excise AP defeated KSEB ‘A' Thiruvananthapuram 25-18, 25-20.
The women's final is scheduled to take place on Sunday.
Other results:
Men: Semifinals: SDAT ‘A' bt KSEB ‘A' 27-25, 29-31, 25-22; ICF ‘A' bt CE AP 25-21, 25-18.
Women: Semifinals: Central Railway, Mumbai bt Western Railway, Mumbai 25-23, 25-20, 25-23; Southern Railway bt KSEB, Thiruvananthapuram 25-23, 25-20, 25-18. League: KSEB bt Western Railway 25-21, 25-10, 27-25; Central Railway bt Southern Railway 27-25, 26-24, 25-14.
