PVL : Hyderabad clean sweeps Chennai for bonus point win

Hyderabad: In the first clean sweep victory of the tournament, the Hyderabad Black Hawks inflicted a 5-0 defeat to the Chennai Blitz (15-14, 15-11, 15-14, 15-7, 15-13). However, it really was not a one sided match as the score line suggests and Chennai could win this battle had they not concede their 5 set points in the opening set.

Such is the margin of difference between win and lose here in the Prime Volley Leagueas the competition enters the third week. Even hard-core fans of Hyderabad did not expect to win this match in this style and the mock punching of his assistant Tom Joseph by the Black Hawks coach Ruben Wolochin in ecstasy at the end of the match clearly indicates that.

The Black Hawks earned a bonus point for the clean sweep in which their young sensation Guruprasad adjudged Player of the tournament. The scintillating performance by the 21-year-old eclipsed all the efforst put up by the Chennai Blitz, especially by Naveen Raja Jacob and Bruno Da silva.

Barring the 4th set, the match was evenly poised till the last few points. It is the Black Hawks who emerged winners in the mental battle with crucial points while the Chennai Blitz surprisingly succumbed to the pressure. Even the seasoned Mohan Ukrapandian makes mistakes at crucial times.

Chennai was the favourites and stronger in paper, but lack of game plan at crucial points hit them hard. Let's hope they did learn a few lessons from this match as they prepared for another southern derby in 2 days' time against the spirited Kochi Blue Spikers.