RailEnquiry

The young turks from MEG turned the tables on fancied South Western Railway, Hubli, and romped into the semifinals of the State Senior ‘A’ division volleyball league championship at the Sree Kanteerava stadium outdoor courts here on Tuesday.MEG won 25-22, 36-38, 25-16, 25-23 in a contest that lasted just over 110 minutes.In an inconsequential match at the adjacent court, LIC outclassed ITI Sports Club 25-21, 25-23, 25-14 in under an hour.MEG and SWR both needed a win to make the last four. And MEG went about task without fuss, with Prabhu, Bipin, and captain Sachin Kumar accumulating points with ease against a ragged SWR outfit.SWR, despite the presence of the gangling former India player Somnath Giri Gowda, looked rusty in its attack, barring some effective smashing by Harish, while the backcourt defence was non-existent. MEG too erred badly in the backcourt, but, in young libero Dano Thomas, there was no shortage of first pass, and Packiaraj set up his spikers.

In the second set the railwaymen did come back strongly and clinched an exciting marathon set at 38-36, but that was the lone bright spot for them. In the semis, MEG will lock horns with BSNL while KSP will clash with ASC.

The results: League: MEG bt SWR 25-22, 36-38, 25-16, 25-23; LIC bt ITI 25-21, 25-23, 25-14.