Karnataka men win third straight match

KOZHIKODE: Karanataka men, who missed last year's senior national championship, are on a roll. The young team under Karnataka postal's A Karthik notched up their third straight win of the event as they beat Jammu and Kashmir in straight sets in a group E encounter at Calicut Trade Centre Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Karnataka will be playing their last group match against Delhi on Friday and will have to face Uttarakhand in the playoff stage to book their quarterfinals berth.Like Karnataka, Uttarakhand too had missed last year's national championship due to their differences with Volleyball Federation of India (VFI).
Surprisingly, Jammu and Kashmir, one of the weakest sides in the event, took the lead in first set but could not maintain their tempo throughout the match. They tried their best to counterattack in the second and final sets but Karnataka defence was too strong.
Later, in a late night men’s match defending champions Kerala made a string off errors in the first two sets but did just enough to prevail over Andhra Pradesh 27-25, 25-23, 25-14 in straight sets. With two wins from Group A, Kerala entered the quarterfinals and they will face Punjab in the final group game on Friday.