The 63rd senior national volleyball championship began on a chaotic note at the Nehru Outdoor Stadium on Saturday when two teams claiming to represent Telangana walked out on to the court for the match against Bihar, confounding everyone including the officials and scorers.
The Volleyball Federation of India had appointed an ad-hoc panel to select the Telangana team for the event while another team backed by former India international and Arjuna awardee Ravikanth Reddy also showed up at the venue.
After hectic discussions and meetings, the VFI declared that it would be the team selected by ad-hoc panel that would participate. That side went on to lose tamely to Bihar in the opener.
Later in the evening, in the first big match of the tournament, defending champion Tamil Nadu started off its campaign in style with a 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 win over Punjab.
In the first set, Punjab managed to keep pace with TN throughout; it was always ahead or level, with some attacking play.
In fact, the first time TN saw the lead since the opening point was when it nudged ahead 17-16.
With attackers M. Naveen Raja Jacob and John Christopher playing well, TN had raced to a 22-19 lead when captain D. Selvaprabhu twisted his right ankle and had to limp off the court.
On the very next point, Punjab blocker Ravikant landed awkwardly and suffered what looked like a broken leg. The defender had to be rushed to a hospital.
The 10-minute stoppage in play seemed to affect Punjab’s momentum, and the first set was soon lost.
In the second, Punjab led 9-5 lead before squandering the advantage and surrendering the lead. From 11-10, TN ran away with set.
Tamil Nadu benefitted from India’s top blocker G.R. Vaishnav’s work at the net as he blocked effectively and also landed some precise smashes.
In another match, Rajasthan thrashed Uttarakhand 25-12, 25-12, 25-15.
Other results:
Jharkhand bt Tripura 20-25, 25-14, 23-25, 25-15, 15-10; Pondicherry bt Madhya Pradesh 22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-22; Maharashtra bt Jammu and Kashmir 20-25, 25-22, 25-9, 25-19; Telangana bt Bihar 25-14, 25-16, 25-12, Gujarat bt Odisha 25-20, 25-18, 27-25; West Bengal bt Assam 25-12, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23; Chhattisgarh bt Himachal Pradesh 30-28, 32-34, 25-22, 25-16.
