India to take on Lanka in Commonwealth Championship

Bangalore, July 22 (UNI) India will start its campaign against Sri Lanka in the second Commonwealth Volleyball Championship beginning in Kolkata from July 29.

India is placed in Group A along with Australia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Bangladesh.

Canada, Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa would figure in Group B.

The championship would be played on league-cum-knockout basis with top two teams from each group advancing into the semi-final stages, a release from Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) Joint Secretary K Nandakumar said here today.

The Indian team, which won gold in the recently concluded Asian Central Zone Volleyball Championship in Pakistan, has been undergoing training at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) southern centre on the outskirts of the city from July four under the watchful eyes of former international spiker and chief coach G E Sridharan.

The team would be leaving for Kolkata on July 27.

International player P S Srikanth would lead the Indian team.

Other members are G Pradeep, Vibin M George, R Sivarajan (Libero), Vijesh, M Ukkrapandian, Darshan Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Somnath Girigouda, Sube Singh, Kiran Philip (Libero), Jitendra, Mandeep Singh, N Shelton Moses, K J Kapildev and Ankit.

Team Manager: K Nandakumar, Head Coach: G E Sridharan, Asst Coach: S Karimullah, Trainer S Tharilal, International Referee (Chief): Sudersan Patnaik.

UNI