Ahmedabad clinches Prime Volleyball title

KOCHI: A season after falling at the last hurdle, Ahmedabad Defenders went all the way in the Prime Volleyball League second edition as it recorded a 15-7, 15-10, 18-20, 13-15, 15-10 victory over Bengaluru Torpedoes in the final at the Regional Sports Centre here on Sunday.

Bengaluru did well to level the match score after going two sets down and saved two championship points in the third set, but could not stop a red-hot R Angamuthu, who was named the ‘Player of the Match’. LM Manoj and S Nandhagopal combined early on to come up with blocks on Bengaluru’s attacks.

As Ibin Jose and Pankaj Sharma got involved in attacks, Torpedoes showed that it was here to fight. But with incessant attacks from Angamuthu, Defenders maintained its composure. With skipper A Muthusamy setting up Danial Motazedi and Manoj, Ahmedabad drew block errors from Torpedoes and secured the first set.

With the service pressure building, the Bengaluru team struggled to make the most of its attacking plays from the middle. Ahmedabad’s in-form defence tackled Bengaluru’s attack, with Angamuthu and S Santhosh bringing down the rival side’s morale in the second set.

Just when it looked like Ahmedabad would run away with the match, TR Sethu’s magic from the service line brought Bengaluru back into business. Danial almost ended the show with his powerful spikes, but Bengaluru held its nerve in the third set.

Alireza Abalooch tried to use his height to bully Santhosh, but the double blockline of Santhosh and Manoj kept making crucial blocks for Ahmedabad. However, with a block by MC Mujeeb and a magical ‘Super Serve’, Torpedoes brought the contest back to level pegging and forced the match into the decider.

The battle between Danial and PV Jishnu heated up in the final set. A clever block from Abalooch brought Bengaluru back into the see-saw battle while Angamuthu’s spikes tested the Torpedoes defence time and again.

A soft ‘Super Serve’ from Santhosh ended the contest and Defenders closed out the final set to clinch the coveted trophy.

RESULT: Final: Ahmedabad Defenders bt Bengaluru Torpedoes 15-7, 15-10, 18-20, 13-15, 15-10