PANAJI
Om Shiv Shambho, Merces, lived up to their favourites tag as they defeated Saikrupa, Usgao, 27-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19 in an entertaining final to emerge champions at the 1st All Goa volleyball tournament in memory of Vicente Almeida and Bonifacio Almeida (Bonny), organised by Boys of Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz.
With several leading players, Om Shiv Shambho were expected to breeze past their rivals but faced stiff resistance from the opponents. Nitin Sawant, Prabal Sawant and Rama (Pappu) Dhawaskar won most of the points for the winners, who staged marvellous recoveries in the winning sets.
Earlier in the semifinals, Om Shiv Shambho defeated Kakoda Boys, Curchorem, while Saikrupa proved too strong for Radhakrishna, Usgao.
Individual prizes: Best defender: Prathamesh Gaonkar (Saikrupa), best setter: Akash Gaude (Saikrupa), best attacker: Nitin Sawant (Om Shiv Shambho), man of the tournament: Prabal Sawant (Om Shiv Shambho).
Padma Shri Brahmanand Shankhwalkar was the chief guest for the final.
