Kochi:Defending Champions Kolkata Thunderbolts finished on top of the table with a 15-7, 15-4, 15-13, 8-15, 11-15 win over the Ahmedabad Defenders in the second season of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League at the Regional Sports Centre, Kochi on Thursday.
Speaking after the match, Vinit said, “We stick to our plan and it worked out well for us. In the first three sets, we were dominant from the starting. Unfortunately, we made some errors but we will work on them and try and not repeat going forward.”
The Thunderbolts will now face off against the fourth-placed Bengaluru Torpedoes in the first semi-final on Friday. For his solid all-round performance, Vinit Kumar was named the player of the match.
Kolkata began strongly as Captain Ashwal Rai became involved in the play from the middle straight away. Janshad and Vinit began threatening Ahmedabad with combination play and put the team under pressure.
Ashwal Rai led from the front and started putting more pressure from the service line and the Thunderbolts took the lead. Abhilash Chaudhary kept blocking Angamuthu, not allowing Ahmedabad to make any headways.
The Thunderbolts did well to keep Angamuthu quiet and the unforced errors kept coming for Ahmedabad. Ashwal led-triple block line put a stop to Nandha’s attacks and Kolkata maintained their control in the game.
With Ahmedabad struggling with service reception and Kolkata maintaining their dominance, Vinit almost being unplayable on the night, the Thunderbolts sealed the win in straight sets to confirm a spot-on top of the table.
