Ahalia Hospital romp home without sweat

Strong contenders Ahalia Hospital had it rather easy in their opening match of the eighth Jimmy George Memorial Ramadan volleyball tournament here at the Kerala Social Centre courts.

Comprising of five Indian international players, Ahalia faced little difficulty in their 3-0 triumph over the Abu Dhabi Malayalee Samajam on Thursday night.

Ahalia won 25-12, 25-15 and 25-19 and virtually assured themselves of a semifinal slot. They meet Al Jazira Club and that encounter is likely to decide the group winners in this three-team group.

Though it was a one-sided affair, mention must be made of the valiant fight put up by the Samajam team, comprising of former Kerala stars, but definitely part-timers now.

M.S. Rajesh and Tom Joseph, two of the Indian internationals, made full use of their height to neutralise the few smashes that Samajam's skipper Mohammed Shiras, Joshi and Ansari managed to unleash.

Rajesh and Joseph were aided in their own offensive play by Kapil Dev and Sunil Kumar with Joby Joseph completing the five-man strong star line-up of Ahalia.

In the very first set, Ahalia opened up an early lead when they reeled off 10 points to make it 13-2. A few time-outs by the Samajam team did slow the Ahalia surge, but all they managed was a 12-25 scoreline.

However, the packed Kerala Social Centre courts seemed to back the underdogs and soon Samajam were egged on as they traded points to revive some interest in the match. Scores went level up to 5-5 with Shiras, Joshi and Shimmy combining well, but the Ahalia team was too strong.

Ahalia also lost a lot of points through some erratic serving and this kept the crowd and Samajam going but the hospital side took the second set at 25-15.

In the third set, Ahalia ran up a 14-5 lead, but again Samajam fought back to make it 12-16. The Indian stars in Ahalia again moved a forward gear and went ahead 24-16.

Sajeev of Samajam brought some cheers to his team's supporters as he came up with three good serves and made it 19-24 before he himself send another serve wide off the line and helped Ahalia take the set and match.