The Hindu : HSDIC scores a creditable victory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 30, 2002

Sport

Sport - Volleyball

HSDIC scores a creditable victory

By M.C. Raman

Tirupur April 29. Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSDIC), a recently assembled squad, which roped in leading players, like Amir Singh and Raghuveer Singh from outside, has gained much ground in a short span of a year. On Monday it scored a creditable victory by toppling South Central Railway, a fairly strong side, at 19-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-18 in a Group A men's match in the National League volleyball championship at the Nanjappa ground.

On paper the Railway squad is strong. In the last National championship at Raipur three months ago, the Railway team, assisted by mostly SCR players, won the title. Ravikanth Reddy, India's No.1 setter, left-arm spiker Sudhakar and former internationals Venkateshwar Rao and P.V. Ramana, along with junior stars Srikanth, Vikram and Suresh, formed the main core of the SCR side here. It got off to a smooth start and then its game plummeted without any rhyme or reason.

In fact, HSDIC did not do anything extraordinary. It was the Railway team that allowed the rival to find its rhythm. Of course Amir Singh was steady in spiking. Raghuveer was superb in placing the ball, though he could spike hard. From nine-all in the second set the complexion of the game changed. SCR's first pass became shoddy and the Railway attack suddenly lost its string. There was no attempt to bring the team back into shape.

All the leading teams tend to be erratic. IOB almost lost its opening match. SCR cooked its own goose by playing an indifferent game when the Haryana side was really fighting hard.

When HSDIC gained the upper hand its block became even stronger and the Railway side looked pathetic. It began to struggle for every point and was conceding four or five point lead in every set. Sensing the seriousness of the rival's struggle the Haryana team attacked strongly and blocked every shot. Setter Darshan Singh, Sunil Kumar and libero Sandeep Kumar, who retrieved the ball well at the backcourt, combined smoothly as the match wore on. It was clearly curtains for SCR.

In a late night game on Sunday Kochi Refineries, backed by some cool weather, walloped a depleted Punjab Police 26-24, 25-17, 25-22 in a men's Group B match.

Tirupur is virtually reeling under a heat wave. One can feel the hot breeze even at 6 p.m. So the late night tie is a boon for the playing squads. It would have been an even contest had Manoj Kumar, a consistent and deceptive spiker and defender, and centre blocker Ratanlal joined the team. Punjab Police missed both the players and it has to get on with this depleted squad in this championship.

So that brings it one rung down in the race for the title. As Jagbir Singh, Punjab Police's most prolific and consistently good attacker, is still in fine nick the Punjab team may still cause some upsets before it bows out of the competition.

Kochi Refineries' is one of the most aggressive sides in this championship. Led by India's No. 1 spiker Tom Joseph, the Kerala team can take on any side here. Apart from Tom, there is this Kishore Kumar, one of the best moving attackers in the country today. It is very difficult to block him, unless the rival blocker watches his movement quickly. Kishore attacks arc pass from behind the screen. With this spiking he has lifted Kerala's game to greater heights in the National championship. Experienced Anil did well as a setter.

Initially, Punjab Police showed its strength in block and in fact it was ahead 23-22. Pritipal Singh, setter Suraj Prakash, Jagbir Singh and Jaswinder Singh put up double block effectively. Still Refineries managed to keep the attack going with Tom playing the high block well. Ismail, Jayaprakash and Kishore unleashed their shots despite some early set back. However, Punjab Police was unusally erratic in the finishing stages and lost the set.

After taking the first set, Refineries was right on top hitting winner after winner and Punjab Police did not have Manoj for deceptive spiking and Ratanlal for the net defence. Only Jagir kept the team going by angling his shots well.

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