Tamil Nadu down fighting Punjab

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 17: Reigning champions Tamil Nadu, spearheaded by the ebullient Selvam, got their act together when it mattered most to ...

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 17: Reigning champions Tamil Nadu, spearheaded by the ebullient Selvam, got their act together when it mattered most to down national champions Punjab 25-18, 25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 15-9. They posted their first win in the men8217;s league of the Indian Oil Servo National Super League Volleyball championship for Nutrine Trophy, conducted by GKM Volleyball foundation on Wednesday.

Setter Tulsi Reddy seemed to be relishing his job as he varied his boosts accordingly while Bairaavan as libero came good. Punjab were a depleted side, Amit Singh was on a contract to Qatar while Jagbir and Surjit Singh did not turn up. To add to thier woes, Ratan Lal also did not take up the field.

Punjab showed signs of fightback in the second set. It was a close affair with the scores tied nine times. Roy Joseph and Kamal Singh combined effectively but an erratic approach towards the close proved their undoing as they lost the set.

Punjab brought in Sandeep Singh who, apart from being a powerful spiker, also showed good anticipation in blunting the rival attack. He was the man of the hour and was instrumental in Punjab claiming the next two sets.

Tamil Nadu brought in Shankar Ganesh, Sivabalan in place of Tulsi Reddy and Selvam and this combination failed to click. There were too many unforced errors by the Tamil Nadu men and they conceded the set.

The final set had the main six of Tamil Nadu back on court and Selvam was at his spiking best and took the stuffing out of the rivals. Tamil Nadu raced to a 6-2 lead and consolidated it to 10-6.

Punjab rallied to narrow the lead and that was during a time when Selvam had moved to the rear court. But when he returned to the front, he settled the issue for Tamil Nadu.

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Kerala survives scare: Kerala were given a scare before they got the better of Andhra Pradesh 25-18, 25-16, 17-25, 25-23 in 71 minutes in another men8217;s league match. Kerala backed by the agility of lanky Tom Joseph, who showed that he is in ease even while spiking from the rear court proved more than a handful for AP.

Giving him ample support in the attack was Raj Vinod, Viju V thomas and Kishore Kumar, Sanjeev8217;s role as the libero made a lot of difference for he threw himself quite often saving sure points.

It was just for an initial spell Andhra looked like giving a fight but fell way behind in the second. Kerala looked over confident and even went to the extent of changing their setter in the third.

They brought in Babu in place of Sarangadharan Pillai and this strategy misfired. Andhra led 6-1 and then got to 18-9, Kerala threw away the set, with Singa Rao, Varma, and Jayaprakash firing on all cylinders.

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Kerala took a comfortable lead again in the fourth but were made to struggle before they ultimately made it at 25-23.

In the only women8217;s match of the day, Indian Railways beat Tamil Nadu 17-25, 25-11, 25-13, 25-7.