Hyderabad: Ahmedabad Defenders beat Hyderabad Black Hawks 3-1 in the first semi-final of the Prime Volleyball League at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium. Score: 15-13, 15-12, 9-15, 15-12. Defenders will face the winners of the second semi-final between Kolkata Thunderbolt and Calicut Heroes today in the final on Sunday. Shaun T John of the Ahmedabad Defenders, who filled the field with spikes, was selected as the man of the match.
Sean T John’s spikes in the first set helped Ahmedabad to a 10-8 lead. However, the Black Hawks scored a superpoint through SV Guru Prashant’s spike to tie the score at 10-10. Defenders regained the lead 13-11. Following on the dominance, Ahmedabad finally won the first set 15-13.
Angamuthu’s superb spike and Manoj’s super block gave Ahmedabad a 9-7 lead in the second set. The Black Hawks equalized 9-9 in the second half. Ahmedabad took a super point through Captain Muthusamy to take a 12-9 three-point lead. The team that held the lead eventually won the second set 15-12 and took a 2-0 lead in the match.
The hosts made a comeback in the third set. The Black Hawks, who led 5-1, jumped through some majestic spikes of Guruprasant. Some unnecessary mistakes of Ahmedabad made the way to Hyderabad easier. They won the third set 15-9.
The fourth set saw an incessant fight. The Defenders led 12-9 with the help of Manoj and Shaun T John. With another super point, Ahmedabad became the driving seat. Amit Gulia scored three consecutive points for the Black Hawks with a score of 14-9. However, Ahmedabad did not falter and ended the fourth set 15-12 to advance to the final.
Calicut Heroes will take on Kolkata Thunderbolts in the second semi-final tonight at 6.50 pm.