By IANS
Kabul : The Indian Embassy team defeated the Russian Embassy in the finals of the second edition of the Kabul Volleyball Championship tournament to retain the trophy for the second year in succession.
Kabul Volleyball Championship was launched as an Indian initiative to promote closer ties among the small but growing diplomatic community in Kabul.
At the India House, members of the diplomatic missions participating in the tournament gathered Saturday around the freshly done up volleyball court and supporters led the shouting and cheering of their respective teams and egged them to fight each point.
The first game set the tone for the final between the two top teams of the tournament. With effective blocking and offensive play, India maintained consistent pressure on the Russian team and won the first game at 25-17.
The second game followed the pattern of the first one with the Indians winning 25-18. The Russians put up a tough fight in the third before losing 22-25 and giving India the trophy.
With two more embassies joining this year’s competition, the volleyball championship is steadily gaining popularity among the diplomatic community. The 2007 tournament featured 10 teams from embassies of USA, Britain, Italy, Germany, Russia, Canada, Turkey China, Japan and India. The tournament was started in December 2006.
Handing over the rolling trophy to the winning Indian team, Russian Ambassador Zamir Kabulov praised the tournament as “an important initiative” and congratulated the team.
Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood thanked all the participating teams in making the tournament a success and handed over T-shirts with the logo of the tournament as a memento to members of all teams.