CHENNAI: Thursday will be a memorable day for Kerala as both their men’s and women’s teams stormed into the finals of the 65 Senior National Volleyball Championship being played at JN indoor stadium.
First Kerala women defeated Maharashtra 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 25-14. Later in the evening, Kerala men beat the fancied Tamil Nadu 19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-17. Tamil Nadu began well winning the first set on the strength of their serve, better blocking and combination at the back-court.
Ukkra Pandian was in his element, serving with panache, and also exhibited good retrieving skills, while Naveen Raja attacked well. In contrast, Kerala’s blocking was pathetic, their serves lacked punch and the coordination was poor. From then on Tamil Nadu’s game dipped. Although they could up the tempo at times to level the scores, TN was inconsistent and continued to repeat mistakes.
On the other hand, Kerala improved their blocking with Jerome and Akhin combining well to score crucial points at critical junctures.
“They (TN) started well, we were error prone. Initially, our blocking was pathetic. Plus our combination did not work and court coverage was also not up to the mark. But second set onwards we were able to rectify the mistakes and played a lot more confidently” said Kerala coach Abdul Nazer
Semifinals: Men: Railways bt Punjab 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23; Kerala bt TN 19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-17. Women: Railways bt AP 25-12, 25-12, 25-10; Kerala bt Maharashtra 25-18, 21-25, 25- 21, 25-14.