Chennai: Tamil Nadu played a perfect match to annihilate Uttarakhand 25-17, 25-15, 25-14 in the final of the 62nd senior national volleyball championship at Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday.
It was indeed a super Sunday for Tamil Nadu because they were utterly dominant in all the departments. Never once did Uttarakhand look like capable of matching their inspired opponents.
Tamil Nadu deserved their ninth national crown every inch. The champions were the only team with an all-win record in the league-cum-knockout competition. Tamil Nadu’s M. Ukkrapandian (setter) and M. Naveen Raja Jacob (attacker) received special awards for their exemplary performance throughout the tournament. The best blocker also belonged to the state, even though G.R. Vaishnav didn’t get the official seal of approval. Vaishnav was unstoppable in blocking as well as attacking.
There were many contenders from Tamil Nadu — Ukkrapandian, Naveen, Vaishnav and C. Jerome Vinith — for the best player award in the final. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that all-rounder Jerome was marginally ahead of others because the youngster was unplayable against Uttarakhand. For a debutant at the national championship, the universal’s performance in the final was extraordinary.
Jerome eased the pressure on Naveen with his thundering smashes from zone two. With another attacker John Christopher not in the best of forms, there was little margin for error from the universal. Jerome stepped up to the plate like a true champion. Whenever Ukkrapandian fed the ball to him, the result — a point for Tamil Nadu — was a foregone conclusion.
Setter Ukkrapandian enjoyed one of his finest days in a Tamil Nadu jersey. He mixed second passes intelligently throughout. Ukkrapandian used the short smashes of Vaishnav to rattle the northern state early on. He also fed Naveen regularly in zone three to tear Uttarakhand apart. The setter also brought John into form towards the end by supplying balls to him when there was a single block on the other side. It was the work of a matured player.
Uttarakhand coach R. Kamaraj wasn’t gracious in defeat. Instead of saying that his team had been outplayed, he said the absence of Gurchand affected Uttarakhand’s chances. “We lost him to injury earlier in the tournament and we missed his steady first passes. The great performance of TN’s rookie all-rounder (Jerome) took us by surprise,” he told DD Sports. In truth, Tamil Nadu had been so superior on the day that even Gurchand’s presence wouldn’t have made a difference.
Kamaraj’s observation about his team’s poor reception was true. What made Uttarakhand’s first pass unsteady was Tamil Nadu’s effective serving. Another factor that plotted the downfall of Kamaraj and Co was the total failure of their universal, Mandeep Singh. The experienced player was a pale shadow of himself and his travails became glaring in the face of his opposite number Jerome’s scintillating show.
Tamil Nadu built up an early lead in all three sets to shut the door on Uttarakhand, who only have a solitary title to show for in the new millennium despite being home to so many top players. Uttarakhand’s susceptible mental strength has once again come to the fore.
Uttarakhand had dragged the eventual champions to five sets in the league but they were clearly found wanting in the big match. But they can’t have any complaints because they lost not only to the better team on the day but also to the best team of the whole competition.
Railways clinched the women’s title, beating Kerala 25-17, 25-10, 23-25, 25-21. Tamil Nadu finished third after a 26-24, 25-16, 25-21 win over Haryana. Kerala defeated Services 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 15-10 for the third place in the men’s section.
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