Sindh overpower Balochistan as National Volleyball begins

KARACHI: Sindh were off to a solid start when they overpowered Balochistan in straight sets in their Group A opener of the 50th National Men’s Seniors Volleyball Championship which exploded into action at the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Wah Cantt on Monday.

Army, Navy and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) also recorded victories in the competitions whose proceedings were scheduled to continue till late Monday night as nine matches had to be conducted.

The Sindh-Balochistan outing turned out to be a gripping affair with both sides offering solid resistance.Following a stunning fight, Sindh won the first set 33-31. In the second set, Sindh played much better, giving little room to the opposition, sealing a 25-14 triumph to make it 2-0.

The third set again was razor-tight with Sindh eventually snatching it 26-24 to seal a hard-earned win.In Group C, Navy whacked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3-0 with set scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 21-5. Army defeated FATA 3-0 in their Group D outing with the set scores of 25-12, 25-11 and 25-14. PAF overwhelmed Punjab 3-0 in their Group B meeting with the scores being 25-12, 25-13, 25-13.In Group A, Pakistan Youth were handed a 3-0 defeat by POF. The scores were 25-19, 25-17 and 25-22.

As many as 17 outfits are featuring in the competitions which have been placed in four groups.WAPDA, POF, Sindh, Balochistan and Pakistan Youth form Group A. PAF, Punjab, Pakistan Education Board and Pakistan Juniors have been clubbed in Group B. Navy, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Islamabad are in Group C. Group D has Army, Police, FATA and Railways.

Two teams from each group will progress to the quarter-finals. Pakistan Junior and Pakistan Youth have been inducted into the event to give them match experience. The teams are preparing for the next year’s continental championships qualifiers.Iranian coach Hamid Movahedi also witnessed the first day’s proceedings.