Pune boys, Kolhapur girls reign supreme in State Junior Volleyball Championship

NAGPUR: It was heartbreak for Nagpur. The outstation teams shattered the dreams of the hosts in the Narendra (Balya) Pant Memorial Maharashtra Junior State Volleyball Championship which concluded at the Raje Raghuji Nagar courts here on Sunday.
Pune boys showed nerves of steel and kept their composure in crucial junctures in front of the vociferous home crowd, who was cheering the Nagpur team, to win the title by a wafer-thin margin.The men's final was a nail-biting encounter with both the teams trying hard for each and every point. The five-set thriller was won by Pune 25-15, 19-25, 24-26, 25-17, 18-16 in two hours.
At one stage, the hosts were leading 2-1 much to the jubilation of hundreds of supporters. However, Pune bounced back gallantly to win the next two sets to clinch the title. Nagpur boys had match point when they were serving for the title with 14-13 in the decider. The home team, however, cracked under pressure and made mistakes in the dying stages of the match.
For Pune, Abhishek Patil, Vinay Kshirsagar and Shoaib Shaikh performed well to help their side win the crown.
Mayur Charhade, Praful Waghmare, Shailesh Bhalme and Sahil Vabhitkar fought hard for Nagpur.
In the girls final, Kolhapur brushed aside the strong challenge of Nagpur in three straight sets. Riding on the impressive display of Neha Shinde, Dyanada Imandar and Dhanashree Patil, the visitors won 25-20, 25-11, 25-13 in the final which lasted for more than an hour.
For Nagpur, Shweta Sheldhare, Vaishnavi Dhoble and Khushbu Meshram fought hard but lacked support from others.
Earlier in the third place play-off matches, Kolhapur boys rallied back superbly to down Latur 22-25, 25-11, 15-9. In the girls' section, Pune overcame the challenge of Amravati 25-18, 28-26.
Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra State Volleyball Association president Vijay Dangre, deputy mayor Satish Hole, Nagpur District Volleyball Association secretary Sunil Hande, Shiv Chhatrapati Award winner and secretary of Raghuji Nagar KM Sunil Bhadange distributed the prizes.