AP, Kerala supreme

BANGALORE, June 10: Andhra Pradesh men retained their National Games volleyball with a brilliant fightback. They defeated Punjab, who were ...

BANGALORE, June 10: Andhra Pradesh men retained their National Games volleyball with a brilliant fightback. They defeated Punjab, who were good in patches, 16-17, 15-7, 15-11, 15-11 in 110 minutes of a see-saw battle.Kerala women bagged the gold ousting titlists Tamil Nadu 15-7, 15-5, 15-10 in a one-sided match that lasted over 75 minutes.

Earlier, in the play-off for the bronze, Karnataka men prevailed over Services 15-11, 10-15, 15-5, 15-3 while Maharashtra women defeated West Bengal 9-15, 15-1, 15-13, 15-9 to claim the bronze.

Salomi Ramu, Elsamma Mathew and Anu Jacob struck a combination that was hard to match. If Salomi had the power, Anu had the timing and deftness. Mercy Antony distributed the ball judiciously and the Kerala spikers were able to drop winners repeatedly in the Tamil Nadu court. The tall and lanky Karpagam and Sini Sebastian did set up net blocks but more often than not they were breached.

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Kerala raced to a 11-4 lead in no time with Salomi, Anu spiking away merrily. Before Tamil Nadu realised what happened they had lost the set in less than 20 minutes.

Praseetha’s entry in the second set further fortified Kerala and there was just nothing TN could do to stop the Kerala juggernaut. TN did manage a 4-0 lead initially but Kerala levelled the score soon and scored eight straight points and a short while later the game too.

In the crucial third set, Sripriya managed to beat the block set up by Sreedevi and Salomias TN earned a 4-1 lead.