National volleyball: Tamil Nadu, Railways bag titles

CHENNAI - Indian Railways completed a hat-trick of titles in the womens section while Tamil Nadu defended their mens crown in the finals of the Velammal Silver Jubilee Senior National Volleyball Championships here Sunday.

Railways dropped the first set, but won the next three against Kerala while Tamil Nadu were taken the full distance by Karnataka, who squandered a two-set lead to go down in five.

In the womens final, Kerala fancied their chances at the outset when the clinched a close opening set, but Railways regrouped and won a tense match that lasted all of 94 minutes, 23-25, 25-12, 25-13.

The men’s final proved to be a thrill-a-minute as Kerala raised visions of an upset when they took the first two sets to have Tamil Nadu on the ropes.

However, the hosts, egged on by a partisan crowd, claimed the crucial third and then played with far more confidence to pouch the fourth.

In the decider, Kerala had their chances when they led 14-13 , but at this crucial juncture, Tamil Nadu came up with some splendid blocks to snatch the dramatic 115-minute match 22-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-13, 17-15.

In the play-offs for third place, Karnataka women defeated Bengal 13-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-15 while Railways beat Uttarakhand 25-22, 23-25, 18-25, 25-12, 15-8.