LAHORE - Fata, Navy and PAF won their opening matches of the 48th National Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship here at the Wapda Sports Complex Monday.
Fata defeated AJK in straight games 25-23, 25-17, 25-19 while Navy also easy win against Punjab 25-9, 25-12, 25-13 and PAF outclassed Balochistan 25-17, 25-15, 25-15 again in straight games.
AJK gave tough time to Fata in the opening match. Particularly Asghar and Azhar picked serves of their opponents efficiently and smashed forcefully to steel points for their team. They were very close to win the first set at 23-23 but very accurate serves in the right places by Fata’s Abdullah and debutant Inamullah left no room for them to pick and respond. Both Abdullah and Inamullah pushed hard and won the first set.
Though Asghar and Azhar made good attempts amid accurate serves, boosting and smashes in the second set but soon they lost their tempo and lost the set. AJK bounced back ferociously in the third set but failed to dent in the solid defense of Fata who won the last set also.
The second match between Navy and Punjab proved one-sided affair as Punjabians could not stop international Asif, who was too strong to be responded well. Asif got valuable support from teammates Abuzar and Bashir who also demonstrated their picking skill and hard smashes. Salim Shan and Faisal from Punjab tried to put up some resistance in the second and third sets but they had no match to their superior opponents.
Unlike Punjab, the players from Balochistan performed brilliantly against PAF in the third match. Balochis lacked in experience and anticipation as they made a number of mistakes during the match. Jamal, Waqas and Yousaf served and smashed intelligently but their boosters failed to place the ball for the smashers. Balochistan players had no match with the skill and strong serves of Haroon, Binyamin and Sheraz of PAF who guided their team to a comfortable win. Today (Tuesday)’s fixtures: AJK vs Wapda at 11am, Punjab vs Sindh 1pm and KP vs Balochistan 3pm.