Kolkata Thunderbolts Celebrate Diwali With 3-1 Win Over Hyderabad Black Hawks
Kolkata Thunderbolts returned to winning ways on the auspicious Diwali night by defeating the hosts Hyderabad Black Hawks 15-9, 15-13, 9-15, 15-13 in the RR Kabel Prime Volleyball League powered by Scapia at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad on Monday. Pankaj Sharma was named Player of the Match. With this win, Thunderbolts rose to 6th place with 9 points.
The Hawks started to test Kolkata’s defence, with setter Preet Karan distributing passes between Sahil Kumar and Yudi Yamamoto. Pankaj Sharma proved his preparedness by combining with Muhammad Iqbal to stop Hyderabad’s attacks.
The Thunderbolts looked like a well-organized machine on defense, not giving the Hawks much room on their shots. Yudi’s sudden rise cost the home team a super point and Kolkata took the lead.
Jithin acted as the brains behind Kolkata’s tactics, allowing Ashwal Rai and Matin Takavar to lead effective attacks. Iqbal’s dominant defending in the middle enabled Kolkata to take control of the match.
Hyderabad made changes to their lineup by bringing in John Joseph, Guru Prashanth and Paulo Lamounier. Paulo’s block on Pankaj changed the momentum as it increased the enthusiasm of the home fans. Niyas Abdul Salam has found his rhythm. John’s block on Rahul earned a crucial super point and the Hawks sealed the comeback by winning the third set.
In the fourth set, Lamounier started to dictate the tempo of Hyderabad’s attacks. Pankaj and Ashwal continued to play solid cross-field attacks to ease the pressure. Kolkata regained control by winning a crucial super point. Rahul’s fierce shot gave Kolkata a crucial point and Shikar missed his shot through the middle to seal a sensational win for the Thunderbolts.
