Big serving Aussies tame India in five-sets

Kolkata, Aug 4 (UNI) Undaunted Australia fought off a spirited comeback by the gutsy Indians to take home the second Commonwealth Volleyball Championship for men in a cliffhanger of a five-setter here today.

The Aussies won 25-18, 25-16, 24-26, 20-250, 15-11.

Pakistan won the third place, outplaying South Africa 25-10, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21.

The atmosphere was electrifying as sound of conches and swaying tri-colours set the stadium on fire. The 7,000- strong partisan crowd made their presence felt cheering the home team and egging them on point for point.

But the first two sets saw Australia in demolition mode, brushing aside everything that India threw at the. Smashes, blocks, overhead passes and block smashes were dealt with consummate ease, and India did themselves no favour looking disorganised in zone two and often leaving big holes that Carrol and Hardy utilised with blockbuster spikes.

Such was the domination of Australia that in the first two sets only once did India put their nose marginally ahead 6-5. With Srikanth flopping big time and Gurchand looking off-colour the Aussies made merry.

India were further plagued by service errors and there were hardly anyone to give good supply and reception of Shivrajan was certainly below par. India lost the first two sets 18-25 and 16-25.

In the second set there was a point when Australia had opened up an eight-point gap on the second technical time out at 16.

In the third set, India showed their real colour with Pradeep, Kapil and Mandeep combining superbly at the net and Sube coming in with some penetrative smashes to the baseline. At 14-14, India broke free taking the lead to 16-14 and then to 20-14 before Australia rallied with Ferguson effecting some fine blocks to take the score to 24-24. India sealed the third set with a smash from Kapil to take it 26-24.

India then took the fourth set 25-20 to set up the grand finale in a pulsating fifth set. The fourth set saw India going for more overhead passes into the gaps than trying to match the raw power of Australia. The Aussies certainly showed a hint of tiredness with the power going out of Carrol's serves and a few serves going into the net.

On the other side India unleashed Sanjay Kumar till now looking a little subdued. His trademark coup behind the first set of setters and probing smashes did the trick.

With the stage set for a fairytale comeback to take home the trophy, the hosts succumbed to pressure and some unforced errors that saw them in the first two sets. Buoyed by the silver streak in the last two sets, the Indian began the set in style taking a 3-1 lead.

But that was it.

The Aussies came back with all their force. Carrol was again at his sublime best tearing apart the Indian defence with a barrage of smashed. For India a costly service error at 8-10 allowed the Aussies stretch the lead to four points.

With the final set for only 15 points, the breach was too great to overcome.

The spirited Indian comeback was not good enough to break the Aussie girdle over the match.

The Aussies also bagged a prize money of Rs four lakh, while the Indians got the runners' purse of Rs two lakh. However, the sports department of Government of West Bengal gave Indian team a boost of Rs five lakh, which it promised if the home team won, for their spirited fight. The following players were given the individual awards: Sanjay Kumar (India)-Scorer, Hardy Benjamin(Australia)-Spiker, Subey Singh (India)-Blocker, Nasir Ahmed (Pakistan)-Server, Daviduik Brock (Canada)-Setter, Chiya Freedom (South Africa)-Receiver and Josh Classen (Canada)-Libero.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee gave away the awards.

UNI