New Delhi: Delhi had mixed day in the 37th Sub-Junior National Volleyball Championships, being played at the Ajmal Khan Park here today. The Delhi boys posted an easy win over Andhra Pradesh as they beat them 25-23, 25-17, 25-18 in their pool match, but the hosts’ girls team failed to cross the Haryana hurdle and went down 20-25, 18-25, 22-25.

But it was the match between Himachal Pradesh girls and Andhra Pradesh that took the most attention which Himachal won in four sets of 25-17, 25-17, 20-25, 25-22.

But for this outing all other pool matches were more or less one-sided with the fancied team cross the line without a hiccup in both sections.

As for the Delhi boys, their match was never a cakewalk but they had a very good combination that helped them overcome a stiff resistance from Andhra boys. After taking the first set with bare minimum points at 25-23, they made a strong comeback to beat them in the next two rather easily. Price was the star cast for the Delhi team as his intense spiking ability put the team ahead of their rivals.

Uttarakhand beat Goa in straight sets of 25-12, 25-8, 25-23. By the time Goa came with some kind of the fight in the last, it was too late and too little for them. Similarly, Manipur downed Jharkhand 25-18, 25-18, 25-18 with the latter not able to do much against a good northeast outfit.

In other girls matches, Maharashtra downed Odisha 25-4, 25-9, 25-5 and Uttar Pradesh defeated Bihar 25-4, 25-4, 25-6. Bihar proved to be a mismatch for UP as they kept spiking and things were only made easy, thanks to Bihar’s loose defence.

Earlier, the championships were inaugurated by Volleyball Federation president Avdesh Choudhary and secretary-general Ramavtat Jhakar.
The championships are organized by Panthers Sports Society and the event is happening after 30 years in Delhi.