Club volleyball: It’s IOB vs ONGC final

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Dream followed nightmare, glory replaced gloom and satisfaction succeeded disappointment at the national club volleyball championship here on Friday.

After the abject capitulation of Chennai Customs to IOB in the first semifinal, ONGC edged out Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) in an epic five-set contest to book their place in the final.

An evening sojourn at Santhome School’s indoor stadium on Saturday evening might turn out to be memorable as IOB are a step away from the Promised Land.

It is only fitting that the two most consistent teams of the tournament have made it to the title round. Both topped their respective groups in the league.

ONGC are the only unbeaten team in this premier tournament for clubs. More important, the Dehradun unit resembles a voracious tiger.

Motivation will, however, not be in short supply for IOB because they are sponsoring the tournament to commemorate their platinum jubilee.

Customs’ fairy tale run ended in unmitigated agony. Losing and winning is never an issue in sports but going down without a fight is.

The score line was 25-20, 25-21, 25-17 but the young Customs team were a lot poorer. In other words, Customs’ shocking collective failure contributed to the worst match of the week-long tournament.

It would be unfair to say IOB won. It was indeed a match Customs lost. The setting — brighter lights to facilitate live TV coverage on DD and a packed stadium in anticipation of a spicy Chennai derby — was perfect for a giant-killing act, but Customs contrived to go into a shell after a nervous breakdown across all positions.

In the end, it was difficult to remember who played well for the bank team because the side across the net were so bankrupt of ideas.

Maybe Customs boys need time to mature into men who can deliver under pressure at a top-level national competition.

Having played three fine matches in the tournament, Customs were unfortunate to go out on such a low, but, then, sports can be cruel at times.

The wretched day, however, got infinitely better with the ONGC-HSIIDC match, which was a rollercoaster in every sense of the word. Momentum changed hands with each set as the riveting tie, inevitably, reached the decider.

The hungrier ONGC claimed the nerve-shredding fifth set. Attacker Lalit Kumar and central blocker Subba Rao were outstanding for the winners.

Gurchand Singh was steadiness personified on the back court. HSIIDC’s towering Sube Singh was a colossus in blocking and first-man attacking.

In the six-team women’s section, leaders Southern Railway (11 points) will meet Central Railway (9) in the final league match on Saturday.

KSEB, who finished their engagements in the round-robin league on Friday, are on 10 points.

The title will be Southern Railway’s even if they lose in five sets. Central can claim the crown with a straight-set victory.

Results: Men: SF: IOB bt Chennai Customs 25-20, 25-21, 25-17. ONGC bt HSIIDC 25-17, 24-26, 25-9, 18-25, 15-10.

Women: KSEB bt Sivanthi Club 25-17, 25-17, 25-16. Eastern Railway bt SAI (Tellicherry) 14-25, 25-22, 28-26, 21-25, 15-13.

Action today: Men: 3rd place playoff: Chennai Customs vs HSIIDC (1 pm). Final: IOB vs ONGC (5 pm). Women: Central Railway vs Southern Railway (3.30 pm).