ISLAMABAD, April 3: India silenced thousands of home fans on Saturday by edging Pakistan 25 18, 23 25, 23 25, 25 18, 15 10 in a nerve wracking volleyball final of the 9th SAF Games.

Pakistan blew away a good opportunity of winning the gold after being 2 1 as they made mistakes in the fourth set that allowed the defending champions to pull level and stretch the game into a decisive fifth at Liaquat Gymnasium.

In the final set, the Indians rode on the good work of their towering captain Subba Row, who at 6ft 10inches, made perfect use of his height to win several crucial points.

Pakistan's Bulgarian coach Dimitar Hristev conceded that Row made all the difference. "He did really well and besides the other players on the opposing team also had good heights which they fully exploited," he told journalists.

The home captain Irfan Nawaz felt the boys had become complacent after bouncing back from a set down to win the second and third sets. "Perhaps the players thought they had the match in their bag."

Pakistan made a shaky start to the first set that saw India stay ahead virtually throughout with some fine smashes from Dinesh Kumar Singh, Abhijit Battachrjee and Amir Singh.

The hosts were let down by their libro Muhammad Tariq Waseem who was unable to play to his potential because of which the team faced problems.

However, Pakistan, after a pep talk with the bench management, staged a recovery in the second set that went neck and neck till the scores were 14 14 before the green shirts broke away to win it, courtesy of powerful smashes by the reliable Bakht Risal, Sajid Nawaz and Muhammad Tufail.

With the match tied 1 1, Pakistan stepped up a gear in the third set in which they raced ahead after being on an even keel at 4 4 and did not let their rivals come close. The home team wrapped it up through fine efforts of Bakht, Kashif Mansoor and Ihsanullah Khan.

However, the visitors fought back gallantly to level the match at 2 2 through Amir Singh's sizzling smashes and Sanjay Kumar's intelligent blocking.

With the stage set for a nail biting finish, Pakistan made mistakes, especially libro Tariq, who continued to mess things up as India surged ahead in the final set. The Indians kept their nerves to retain their title, the star of the day Row inflicting most of the damage.

In the third place match, Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh 25 22, 23 25, 24 26, 25 19, 15 10.