Tamil Nadu and Kerala teams share Under-21 spoils

Pune: Tamil Nadu and Kerala won three medals each as they dominated the volleyball competition at the Khelo India Youth Games, which concluded at the Balewadi Sports Complex here on Sunday.

The two southern India teams shared the spoils in the Under-21 category with Tamil Nadu wining the Women’s Under-21 gold, while Kerala took gold medal in the Men’s Under-21 category.

Tamil Nadu made a stunning comeback to win gold after losing the first two sets to Kerala, who got off to a flyer and cruised to a 25-23, 25-11 lead.

Tamil Nadu turned things around with a 25-23 win in a tight third set. They followed that up with an equally strong performance to finally prevail 23-25, 11-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-9 in just under two hours.

The Men’s Under-21 final saw favourites Kerala overcome Tamil Nadu in a tense four-set battle to stay unbeaten en route to the gold medal. Tamil Nadu made a good start to win the first set 25-21 and it was the first set Kerala had dropped in the tournament. Kerala were quick to make a comeback and never let their guard down thereafter despite strong resistance from Tamil Nadu to eventually win 21-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-20.

Bengal denied Maharashtra a medal, beating the hosts in the Girls’ Under-17 final 25-15, 25-13, 25-14. In the Boys’ Under-17 category, Uttar Pradesh registered a comfortable 25-17, 25-20, 25-23 victory over Gujarat to win the gold.