Goa girls dig deep for place in semifinals, boys have it easy

Panaji: Goan teams made it to the semifinals of the U-17 National School Games Beach Volleyball Championship at Miramar in contrasting fashion on Wednesday.

Narendra Vasudev Gaonkar and Vedant Devidas Kavlekar were the big favourites to win their boys quarterfinal against CBSE, a team that picked up only three out of 42 points against Gujarat in the group stage. They made it to the knockout stage because there were only two teams in their group and both qualified.

In the quarterfinals, it was again a one-sided affair as Goa dominated from start to finish in both sets to win 21-3, 21-2.

The most exciting battle of the day was played simultaneously on court No 4. There seemed nothing out of the ordinary when Goa’s quarterfinal clash against Punjab started. But with the home team losing the first set and the crowd throwing their weight behind Deepali Kusta Gawas and Roshni Rama Gaonkar, there was nervousness and excitement all through the fiery contest.

Despite playing on home turf and under familiar conditions, Deepali/Roshni were nervous at the start. Maybe it’s the pressure of being watched by so many people from so close, and it included Ajay Gaude, the director of sports. There were too many mistakes from their end. In fact, it were the errors, including from serves, that allowed Punjab to win the first set at 22-20, after Goa crucially served on the net and smashed long.

In the second, Goa showed their true colours. Deepali/Roshni played it safe, just pushed the ball at the other end and forced the Punjab pair of Meenakshi Soni/Diksha on the back foot. They erred. Before anyone knew, Goa took a 6-0 lead and never really looked back as they won the set to tie the game at 21-6.

The third and deciding set is always about seizing the initiative. Whoever takes the lead, enjoys the advantage, and Goa seemed to have done well to lead 3-0. Then, Punjab swung back into the contest to enjoy a three-point lead at the halfway stage. At 8-5, it was Punjab’s game to lose.

Goa found themselves down 6-9, and the match appeared to be slipping out. Out of nowhere, Deepali, egged on by the crowd, dived full length to make a fantastic return and then Roshni served two aces. Suddenly, the momentum was in Goa’s favour as they served for four match points at 14-10.

There was more drama in the end as Punjab refused to give up. They saved two match points with some gritty show, but Goa eventually won a point to make it to the semifinal.
Goa won the quarterfinal clash 20-22, 21-6, 15-12.

The semifinals will be played on Thursday morning at 8am.

• Quarterfinal results (boys): Gujarat bt Andhra Pradesh 21-16, 14-21, 15-8; Tamil Nadu bt Delhi 21-8, 21-12; Goa bt CBSE 21-3, 21-2; Telangana bt Punjab 21-16, 25-23; (girls): West Bengal bt Delhi 21-12, 21-5; Tamil Nadu by Puducherry 21-5, 21-15; Gujarat bt Telangana 21-5, 21-14; Goa bt Punjab 20-22, 21-6, 15-12.
• Semifinal lineup (boys): Gujarat vs Telangana (8am), Tamil Nadu vs Goa (9am); (girls): West Bengal vs Goa (8am), Tamil Nadu vs Gujarat (9am)

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