IOB wins all India v'ball HERALD SPORTS REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 29 - Volleyball, despite popular perception, is still a hugely popular game in Goa.
Though the popularity is not as much as the highs of late seventies and eighties, Saturday night's game at Loutolim would have made any enthusiast think otherwise. A huge crowd sampled the thrill of each and every point as Indian Overseas Bank scored a thrilling 25-23, 25-22, 17-25, 14-25, 15-11 over Oil and Natural Gas Company, Dehradun to emerge champions in the Chowgule All India volleyball tournament, organised by Socio Sports and Cultural Club, Loutolim. ONGC started as favourites after their preliminary group win over their Chennai rivals, but IOB turned the corner with an inspired performance. Indian Overseas Bank, riding on the brilliance of J Nadarsan and H Arun Khan took the first two sets, struggling initially and recovering almost immediately. However, in the third set, IOB made the cardinal mistake of dropping guard allowing ONGC to claw their way back into the game. Tough cookies that they are, ONGC seized the opportunity with both hands and made IOB look like total novices. Most of the damage was being done by the lanky Rahul, whose back-court smashes, and centre-block was a cut above the rest. The winners were richer by Rs 25,000 for their winning efforts while ONGC had to settle for Rs 15,000. The following individual prizes were awarded: Best disciplined team - Muthoot Group (Kerala), Best smasher - Arun Khan (IOB), Most promising player - Rahul (ONGC), Best setter - P Sundaram (IOB). Panchayat Minister Subhash Shirodkar was the chief guest. Also present was Loutolim MLA Aleixo Sequeira, SAG Executive Director V M Prabhudessai, Goa Volleyball Association president Irwin Soares, GVA secretary Louis Pires and Beach Volleyball Council of India chairman Martin Sudhaker.
