YANAM: Continuing their fine run, Chennai Spikers reigned supreme in the third leg to stay at the top of the inaugural IVL at YSR Indoor Stadium on Thursday. Winner of the second leg at Chennai, the Spikers remained unbeaten in the third leg too to top the table with 10 points from five matches. They lead in overall table with 26 points from three legs played so far with Hyderabad Chargers, who finished second here with 24 points.
In Thursday’s final matches, Spikers humbled Karnataka Bulls 25-22, 25-19, 19-21, 25-23 in 99 minutes while Chargers downed Kerala Killers 16-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 in 90 minutes. Yanam Tigers rallied to beat Maratha Warriors 19-25, 25-29, 25-17, 25-22 in the final match of the day. But it was yet Spikers who dominated right through. With Navjit Singh and Mandeep Singh playing well as attackers and libero Kanakraj excelling at the defence, Spikers tamed the Bulls with an effective and consistent effort. For Karnataka Bulls, skipper Ravi Kumar had a few good smashes while Jagdish and Sanjay Kumar chipped with useful contributions near the net. In the Hyderabad-Chargers-Kerala Killers match, VR Manoj and Gurvinder performed well in attack while setter Ukkarapandian lent ample support.
