Chennai Blitz dented Bengaluru Torpedoes’ hopes of making it to the knock-out phase with a 9-15, 15-12, 15-13, 15-9, 12-15 win in the Rupay Prime Volleyball League championship at GMC Balayogi Stadium on Sunday.
Playing for pride, after being out of contention in qualifying to the knock-out phase, Blitz powered by brilliant attacker G.S. Akhin shrugged off a first set loss to win the next three in style and clinch the match.
Torpedoes had a chance to win the third after the set scores were tied one-all even after losing the super point to trail at 13-10 as Blitz conceded the second super point with a service fault. But, Akhin scored a crucial point at 14-13 to clinch the set for Blitz.
In the fourth set, Akhin was all over the rival defence, not just his defence-splitting spikes but also with gentle efforts to roll the ball over to leave the rivals confused. He did so consistently with Naveen Jacob Raja, Fernando Gonzalez and Bruno da Silva proving to be a perfect foil.
For Torpedoes, Pankaj Sharma was outstanding as always but saw his teammates falter at critical moments by not showing the desired coordination. Though Noah Taitano and Lavmeet Katariya came good with the odd powerful smash, it was not just enough.
This was Blitz’s second win in six matches while Torpedoes suffered their third loss in six matches.
The result: Chennai Blitz bt Bengaluru Torpedoes 9-15, 15-12, 15-13, 15-9, 12-15.
Monday’s match: Hyderabad Blacks vs Calicut Heroes, 7 p.m.
