Published 11:48, 20 Feb 2023
Ahmedabad Defenders picked up their third win in a row in the second season of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 after beating Chennai Blitz by 5-0 (15-11, 15-13, 15-10, 15-9, 15-12) at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. Nandagopal Subramaniyam was named Player of the Match for his eye-catching performance.
Chennai Blitz took charge with GS Akhin leading the middle with his spirited attacks. But middle blocker Manoj Lakshmipuram Manjunatha levelled the playing field for Ahmedabad Defenders with ferocious blocks. Danial Moatazedi's hard spikes gave Chennai no breathing room.
As the game became a battle of the middles, Akhin's role was crucial for Blitz. Chennai's strategy to switch Varghese Jobin to the left side helped Blitz but Manoj and Nandagopal kept Ahmedabad ahead with consistent blocks. With spike errors from Angamuthu Ramaswamy and Santhosh Santhosh, Ahmedabad Defenders started leaking points.
Kevin Audran Noumbissi Moyo and Renato Mendes constantly started switching directions, giving Blitz an opening. But a perfectly executed combo move between skipper Muthusamy Appavu and Angamuthu shut down Chennai's rebellion and Defenders took control of the proceedings.
Muthusamy kept delivering the ball to his attackers in the middle, despite getting in awkward positions, at times. Danial's towering presence only added to Chennai's worries. Akhin kept trying to create an impact from the middle for Chennai but found little support and Ahmedabad closed down the game within straight sets.
https://t.co/KUNrRVkary!@Amd_Defenders claim their first-ever clean sweep of #RuPayPrimeVolley 💪#CBvAMD #PVL2023 #AsliVolleyball pic.twitter.com/De6NJMszUs
— Prime Volleyball (@PrimeVolley) February 19, 2023
With the opportunity to climb to the top position in the current standings with a 5-0 win, Defenders went all in. Nandagopal kept getting better and Chennai found no replies to his powerful serves as Ahmedabad completed the clean sweep win to get 3 points from the match.
Third-placed defending champions Kolkata Thunderbolts will be up against Mumbai Meteors at 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC) on Monday at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, followed by Ahmedabad Defenders against second-placed Calicut Heroes (unbeaten on a 3-0 win-loss record) at 21:30 (16:00). On Tuesday, the Hyderabad leg will be closed with a game between Hyderabad Blackhawks and Bengaluru Torpedoes at 19:00 (13:30).
The RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 is telecast live on Sony Sports Ten 1 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil and Telugu) and Sony Sports Ten 2 (Malayalam) channels in India and is streamed on **VBTV** outside the Indian subcontinent.
