National Volleyball Championship: Jerome to lead Kerala

KOCHI: It has taken Jerome Vinith C less than four years after shifting his allegiance from Tamil Nadu to Kerala to lead his adopted state in a national volleyball championships. Kerala, one of the traditional powerhouses in the game, have always handed the responsibility of leading state teams to local stars.
But the selectors on Thursday rewarded Jerome for his consistent performances with the captaincy mantle of Kerala team that will be playing in the 66th Senior National Volleyball Championship in Kozhikode next week.
This will not be the first-time Jerome will be leading the state team. Earlier, the lad from Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu had led the Kerala side in the Federation Cup held in Tirupur in 2016, where their campaign ended in the group stage.
“Very happy to lead Kerala in the national championship. When I came here to join BPCL, my only dream was to do my best for the state. I have been playing well and I take this challenge as a big opportunity in my career. We have a great team and we are looking forward to come up with our best performance,” Jerome told TOI from Kozhikode.
Kerala coach K Abdul Nazer too sounded confident about his team’s prospects. “We have been going through a disciplined training schedule and the team is a good mix of experience and youth. Punjab, Services and Tamil Nadu could be our main threats but I feel this team can do wonders under Jerome’s captaincy,” Nazer said. Incidentally, Nazer was the coach of the Kerala team that lifted the title in the 65th edition of the championship in Chennai.
Meanwhile, G Anjumol has been named captain of the Kerala women’s team.
Teams: Men: Muthu Sam, N Jithin , GS Akhin, P Rohith, Abdul Raheem, C Ajithlal, Vibin M George, Anu James, KS Ratheesh, Jerome Vinith C, O Ansab, CK Ratheesh. Coach: K Abdul Nazer
Women: KS Jini, E Aswathi, Anju Bala Krishnan, S Soorya, G Anjumol, S Rekha, M Sruthi, NS Saranya, EK Fathima Ruksana, KP Anusree, Anjalai Babu, Aswathi Raveendran. Coach: Sunny Jospeh