Bhubaneswar:Â The 70th Senior National Volleyball (Men & Women) Championship 2021-22 was inaugurated on Monday as per COVID guidelines at the Biju Patnaik Indoor Stadium, KIIT Deemed to be University.
On Day 1, the Odisha Men team beat Bihar by 3:0 sets (25-15, 25-22 & 25-15), and the Odisha Women defeated Pondicherry by 2:0 sets (25-15, 25-22).
Day 1 Results:
MEN Team:
- Odisha beat Bihar by 3:0 sets (25-15, 25-22 & 25-15)
- Delhi beat Ladakh by 3:0 sets (25-5, 25-5 & 25-6)
- Telangana beat West Bengal by 3:0 sets (29-27, 25-16 & 25-22)
- Uttaranchal beat Chhattisgarh by 3:0 sets (25-21, 25-16 & 25-23)
- Pondicherry beat Himachal Pradesh by 3:0 sets (25-15, 25-21 & 25-15)
- Madhya Pradesh beat Jammu Kashmir by 3:2 sets (25-22, 26-24, 25-23, 25-21 & 15-13)
WOMEN Team:
- Odisha beat Pondicherry by 2:0 sets (25-15, 25-22)
- Haryana beat Uttaranchal by 2:0 sets (25-13, 25-4)
- Tamil Nadu beat Uttar Pradesh by 2:1 sets (18-25, 25-10, 25-19)
The 70th Senior National Volleyball (Men & Women) Championship 2021-22 under the aegis of Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) is jointly organized by Odisha Volleyball Association (OVA) & KIIT-DU, Bhubaneswar and supported by Sports & Youth Services Department, Govt. of Odisha kick-started today and will continue till 13th February 2022 at Biju Patnaik Indoor Stadium, KIIT-DU.
Special Secretary to Chief Minister & Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Sports & Youth Services Department, Govt. of Odisha, R. Vineel Krishna graced the event as the Chief Guest. Prominent among other present were Prof. Sasmita Samanta, Organizing President & Vice Chancellor, KIIT-DU., Anil Choudhary, Secretary General, VFI, Anand Rajhans, Vice President, VFI & Chairman Control Committee and Dr. Gaganendu Dash, Organizing Secretary, Associate Jt. Secretary, VFI, Hony. Secretary, OVA & Director Sports, KIIT-DU.
Odisha as a state has been allotted five Volleyball National Championships – 36th Junior National Volleyball (B & G) Championship 2009, 41st Sub-Junior National Volleyball (B & G) Championship 2019, 68th Senior National Volleyball (M & W) Championship 2020-21,  69th Senior National Volleyball (M & W) Championship 2021 and 70th Senior National Volleyball (M & W) Championship 2021-22. All five championships have been conducted at KIIT premises.
This Championship features more than 1200 Men & Women volleyball players from 28 states and 8 union territories including Ladakh. Many Arjuna Awardees as well as International & National players would be participating in this championship. The Indian Volleyball team for the upcoming Asian Championship and other international meets would be selected through this championship.
This championship is very significant as the Indian Volleyball (Men & Women) Teams would be selected for the ASIAD 2022 at Hangzhou, China. The Selection Committee for the Indian Volleyball Men Team consists of Shri G. E. Sridharan, Dronacharya Awardee, Arjuna Awardee & Present Coach of Indian Volleyball Men Team, Shri Pritam Singh Chahuan Sr. Coach SAI and Shri Amir Singh, Arjuna Awardee. The Selection Committee for Indian Women Team consists of Shri Prakash Roy, Sr. Coach, Ms. Vaishali Phadtare, Women Member (VFI) & present Coach of the Indian Volleyball Women Team, Shri. Lotak Bindu Dash, Former International Volleyball Player & Level II FIVB Coach and Shri Viral Shah, Level II Volleyball Coach. Shri A Ramana Rao, Dronacharya Awardee & Arjuna Awardee will be the coordinator of both the selection committees.
Notably, for the first time in the history of Indian Volleyball, KIIT University made history by hosting the Senior National Volleyball Championship for the third time consecutively after successfully conducting 68th & 69th Senior National for the last two years.
