Tamil Nadu’s hat trick hopes in the national volleyball championship went up in smoke, as the champions lost a heart-stopping semifinal to Uttarakhand in five sets in the 60th edition of the premier tournament at Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on Tuesday.

Uttarakhand edged out Tamil Nadu 25-13, 19-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13 to set up a final meeting with Kerala, easy victors against Services in the other semi-final. Winning the national championship isn’t Tamil Nadu’s birthright but the manner in which they blew the fifth and, by extension, the match left a bad taste in the mouth.

The match was telecast live on DD and scores of volleyball fans in the state would have watched the tragedy that unfolded in the decider. There is no way Tamil Nadu should have lost the set because it was in their grasp. Uttarakhand didn’t win it; it was Tamil Nadu who lost it.

Tamil Nadu did admirably well to bridge a four-point deficit in the third set but mistakes from universal D. Selvaprabhu and S. Karthik in the climactic stage hurt them.

It is, however, futile to discuss the first four sets whenever the match lasts the distance because the dynamics of the fifth always assumes greater significance.

The decider is always a fresh start. It is a true test of a team’s mental strength.

Uttarakhand’s win exposed the lack of killer instinct in Tamil Nadu’s ranks. They didn’t have to do anything extraordinary to clinch the fifth, as their opponents were obliging and generous. Tamil Nadu had a handful of opportunities to pull away but they contrived to squander all.

Selva and Karthik flunked their serves when Tamil Nadu were leading 5-4 and 6-5 respectively. TN changed sides with an 8-7 lead and they should have made it 9-7 but a free ball went down the drain.
With Uttarakhand leading 14-13, M. Naveen Raja Jacob went up for a smash from zone four. The attacker only succeeded in hitting a powerful smash into the waiting hands of Subba Rao. It was all over for TN.

The decision of M. Ukkrapandian to feed Naveen was puzzling. The first pass was so good that the setter could have used blocker N. Shelton Moses for first-man attack. Rao, Uttarakhand’s central blocker, had already moved to zone two to block Naveen in tandem with his setter Ranjit Singh.

Ukkrapandian had apparently failed to note the block position on the other side. Otherwise, one must assume he had an unwavering faith in Naveen.

The unwritten rule in volleyball is to bring in the tall blocker into play whenever the first pass is excellent, but Ukkrapandian went for another route and Tamil Nadu paid the price.

He must shoulder some blame because the supply was so good that any blocker worth his salt would have killed the ball, if he got it that is. And, it is always not easy to block the first man. Ukkrapandian must have realised that Naveen is a marked man and all teams would focus on him.

With Tamil Nadu trailing 12-13, Uttarakhand appeared to have won another point. But referee Ilias Shameem ruled that a Naveen smash went out after brushing the hand of his opponent.

Uttarakhand resumed play after a brief argument. Just when one thought it was the kind of break the champions needed, the point ultimately proved to be a false dawn.

Losing a final may be a weird feeling for Tamil Nadu players who won the last two nationals, besides pocketing the 2011 National Games title.

Results
SF: Men: Uttarakhand bt Tamil Nadu 25-13, 19-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13; Kerala bt Services 25-15, 25-22, 25-21. Women: Railways bt Andhra Pradesh 25-20, 25-13, 25-17. Kerala bt West Bengal 25-23, 25-16, 25-12.

Action today

All finals: Women: Kerala vs Railways (3 pm). Men: Kerala vs Uttarakhand (5 pm).