U-17 state title for Gurgaon volleyball team

GURGAON: The U-17 volleyball team from the city emerged as the state volleyball champion in Mahakumbh championship, which was held in Kurukshetra from October 15 to 18. The city team defeated a team from Jind to clinch the final with a score of 28-30, 25-19, 25-20 and 25-12.

On their road to the final the Gurgaon boys got the better of teams from Panchkula and Fatehabad, with comfortable wins against them in league stage. In the quarter-finals, Gurgaon beat Kurukshetra 25-23, 25-21 to set up a semi-final clash with Karnal before the final.

"The performance of the Gurgaon players in the championship was fantastic. They players, with the facilities they have at their disposal, have proved that they can win under any circumstances and against any team," said Ajit Kumar, team's coach.

Earlier in October, Gurgaon's under-19 team became champion in two different competitions. They won the Haryana school state volleyball tournament and later the CBSE cluster tournament. This is Gurgaon's third state level win in the last 18 days.

Sanchit Taya, member of the victorius U-17 team, said, "The tournament was tough and we learnt that if we have to win we need to be disciplined. We were given only one ball to practice. Any team which plays at the district and state level should be provided with adequate number of volleyballs to practice. We somehow managed with whatever we had."

Apart from shortage of equipments the team members also complained that they weren't provided any accommodation and had to make their own arrangements during the championship.