Volleyball

Men's defending champion Andhra Pradesh made a winning start to its campaign.

At his hometown, in front of a crowd of close to 15,000 that included his family and friends, Vibin M. George came up with a ferocious smash that made

This 21-year-old was part of the Kerala side that won the title at the last edition of the National championship held in Chennai.

The 12,000 odd spectators inside the Calicut Trade Centre on Wednesday were treated to some superb action in both the men's and women's finals of the

Railways women thumped Maharashtra.

Railways rode on S. Pragabaran's individual brilliance to sail into the finals of the 66th National volleyball championship.

Kerala came strongly back after dropping that set to clinch a semifinal berth by winning 30-32, 25-21, 25-18, 25-22.

Only one match went beyond the third set, and that too because the Haryana women made far too many unforced errors against Andhra.

The senior National volleyball championship returns to Kozhikode after a gap of 17 years.

K. Abdul Nazer, who had coached the team to victory in Chennai, said he expected stiff competition in the league phase itself, from Punjab.