It was another action-packed day in the volleyball competitions of the National Games. At the end of it, the semifinal line-up was confirmed, and it didn’t throw up any surprise.
The big question was if the Rajasthan men and the Karnataka women would win their respective matches to book their berths. They did, and did it in straight sets as well.
The Punjab men though put up a brave fight against a talented Rajasthan side that was in top form.
Rajasthan seemed to have learnt from the mistakes it made against Kerala a day ago, and came up with a consistent display to overpower a strong Punjab side.
Dilip Khoiwal set the tone for Rajasthan with a series of telling smashes.
With Lavmeet Katariya, Suresh Chander, Deepesh and Ranvir joining him in the party, Punjab rarely got a breathing space.
But, Hardeep Singh and Gurinder Singh spiked superbly for Punjab to entertain another big crowd at the V.K. Krishna Menon indoor stadium on Wednesday. The victory helped Rajasthan finish second in Pool ‘B’, behind host Kerala.
The Tamil Nadu men too have been as impressive. They defeated Services 25-17, 25-17, 25-20 in their last league encounter.
In the semifinals on Thursday, Rajasthan will take on Tamil Nadu, while Kerala will men Services. In the women’s section, Kerala will face Uttar Pradesh, while Tamil Nadu will square up with Karnataka.
Karnataka was impressive in its 25-21, 25-18, 25-8 win over Chandigarh in Pool ‘A’. K.S. Smisha, Priyanka Bora and Nishya Joseph were the main architects of the victory that ensured it the second place behind Kerala, which beat Bengal 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 to finish the preliminary league with three wins from as many games.
The results (preliminary league):
Men: Pool A: Tamil Nadu bt Services 25-17, 25-17, 25-20; Haryana bt Uttar Pradesh 25-22, 24-26, 25-20, 25-20.
Pool B: Rajasthan bt Punjab 25-22, 26-24, 25-20.
Women: Pool A: Kerala bt Bengal 25-17, 25-19, 25-21; Karnataka bt Chandigarh 25-21, 25-18, 25-8.
Pool B: Tamil Nadu bt Haryana 25-23, 16-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-12; Uttar Pradesh bt Punjab 25-22, 25-15, 25-22.
