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| November 6, 2001 | Tuesday | Shaba’an 19, 1422 |
Army reclaim title
ISLAMABAD, Nov 5: Pakistan Army toppled defending champions Wapda Monday with consummate ease to capture the 37th Royals national volleyball championship at the Liaquat Gymnasium.
In a final that failed to provide the expected fireworks, everything went Army’s way as they dominated play for a 25-17, 25-13, 25-22 victory that earned them their 11th national title.
Earlier, in the third place playoff, Police had to put in quite an effort to edge out Pakistan Air Force 25-23, 25-20, 26- 24.
Army, with their key players Bakht Rasal, Sakhi, Zafar and Elahi in top form, were hardly troubled by Wapda. Only in the third set did they match Army point for point and were on par at least four times early on in the set.
However, Army showing better skills in attack as well as defence, eased to victory in a match that was not even a shadow of their Sunday’s encounter against Police whom they barely managed to beat in four sets.
But Wapda, who were bidding to win their fifth national title, were only themselves to blame as they just threw away points at crucial stages of the match. Inaccurate blocking and a visible lack of coordination within their ranks, led to their downfall.
For Army, it was sweet revenge on a side that had beaten them in last year’s National Championship in Peshawar.
When the final began amidst high hopes of a quality clash, both sides were off to a Grand Prix start with exchanges even. Then Army quickly took control with the powerful spikes of Bakht Rasal and setter Elahi and raced ahead as Wapda despite some good work by Irfan Mani and Sajjad were unable to catch up and the set ended in 20 minutes.
The second set was even more easier for Army and they needed just 15 minutes to go 2-0 up with little hopes of a Wapda fightback. But Wapda did fight in the third in a desperate bid to extend the match, efforts that proved futile against an Army side firing on all cylinders.
Secretary sports Sameen Jan Babar and Ukrainian Ambassador were the chief guests and gave away the prizes to the players.
The championship which had 14 teams was played on the new surface Geroflex which was imported in September for the SAF Games and was tested for the first time.
Ch. Muhammad Yaqoob, President of the Pakistan Volleyball Federation, said that the reason for holding the championship in Islamabad was to provide players the opportunity to have a feel of the new surface.
Meanwhile, the 8th Royals Refresher Course for Volleyball Coaches concluded at the Pakistan Sports Complex.
The four-day course which had 20 participants including four women was conducted by Shoaib Ahmed Usmani while Qazi Mushtaq Ahmed and MB Javed were the instructors.
At the conclusion of the course, Ch. Yaqoob presented certificates to the participants.
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