Calicut Heroes takes the honours in style
Calicut Heroes emerged victorious in the Prime Volleyball League season three final, defeating the Delhi Toofans 1513, 1510, 1315, 1512 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, here on Thursday.
The opening set was a nailbiter, with both teams trading powerful spikes. Calicut’s Jerome Vinith and Delhi’s S. Santhosh went blow for blow to keep the score close. At a crucial 1112, Toofans attempted a ‘Super Point’ to gain the lead, which attacker Rohit Kumar successfully converted. However, Heroes didn’t back down and with the score tied at 13all, Brazilian attacker Luiz Pelippe
Perotto delivered ning ‘Super Serve’ the set 1513.
The Calicut team rode the momentum into the second set, taking an early lead thanks to Vinith and Chirag’s powerful attacks. While Toofans tried to fight a winto steal back with Rohit and Santhosh, Calicut’s Iranian middleblocker Daniel Moatazedi shut them down with crucial blocks as the team took the set 1510 to go 20 up.
Facing defeat, Toofans launched a desperate comeback in the third. Colombian middleblocker Daniel Aponza and Santhosh rose to the challenge with key interceptions.
Although Perotto displayed his serving prowess again, Aponza and Rohit kept Toofans alive, forcing a fourth win.
The Delhi team grabbed an early lead in the fourth set, but Calicut’s veteran setter Mohan Ukkrapandian and Vinith orchestrated a magnificent fightback, swinging the lead back in their favour.
In a final attempt to extend the match, Toofans gambled on two consecutive ‘Super Points,’ but only managed to convert one.
With the score at 1412, Vinith delivered a final, decisive spike to seal the championship in Calicut Heroes’ favour.
Vinith won both the ‘Best Spiker’ and Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards. set with
aThe result: Calicut Heroes bt Delhi Toofans 1513, 1510, 1315, 1512.