A 16-time champion and an eight-time finalist not reaching the podium for the last decade or so seems quite shocking. Punjab has been under the radar for quite a while — it last triumphed in 1999 and finished third in 2006.
At the senior National volleyball championship being held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, it hasn’t been that impressive, fumbling at the death and losing all its group matches.
However, by defeating Uttarakhand 20-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21 in the playoff second round match (pre-quarterfinal) on Sunday, Punjab made it to the last eight and set up a clash with 12-time champion Railways.
Uttarakhand, which topped Group D, reached the pre-quarterfinals, beating Gujarat (Group C topper). For a brief while, the two-time champion gave a tough time to Punjab. In the first set when the latter wasn’t at its attacking best, Uttarakhand came up with solid blocks.
Punjab got into the groove in the second set, thanks to some wonderful spiking from Kanwarpal Singh and Hardeep Singh. It was, however, Universal Gagandeep Singh which tilted the scales in Punjab’s favour in the third and fourth sets. Of the last five points in the fourth set, four came off Gagandeep’s thunderous smashes.
Earlier, in the women’s playoff second-round match, Haryana scripted a comfortable 25-17, 25-14, 25-14 win over Uttar Pradesh. It will now take on Kerala in the last-eight clash.
The results: Playoff second round (pre-quarterfinals): Men: Punjab bt Uttarakhand 20-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21; Women: Haryana bt Uttar Pradesh 25-17, 25-14, 25-14.
Lower pool qualifiers: Men: Uttarakhand bt Gujarat 25-19, 25-21, 25-19; Maharashtra bt Rajasthan 25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 25-15.
Women: Uttar Pradesh bt Rajasthan 25-14, 24-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13; Delhi bt Gujarat 25-14, 35-33, 17-25, 25-20.
