Kohima District Open Volleyball Tournament begins

[caption id="attachment_284621" align="aligncenter" width="565"] Players of Phesama Youth Organisation and Eliezer Club Kiruphema pose for a photograph with Alun Hangsing and KDVA officials on Monday, November 25 at Kohima local ground in Kohima town. (EM Images)[/caption] Our Correspondent Kohima, Nov. 25 (EMN): The 7th edition of the Kohima District Open Volleyball Tournament organised by the Kohima District Volleyball Association (KDVA) commenced at the Khuochiezie ground in Kohima on Monday, November 25. Alun Hangsing, secretary of Youth Resources and Sports, was the special guest of the event. In his address to the gathering there, he said, "Games and sports have come a long way" today and it is not being taken merely as some sort of entertainment anymore. He said the scope of games and sports have become wide that through discipline, friendship is developed between different nations and countries, from states and even down to different colonies. "It has become very important instrument to carry forward peace and harmony in the society," Hangsing said. The officer spoke about how the game of volleyball gained popularity in the world. The game was invented in 1895 by Morgan G. Morgan, a physical education director of the Young Men’s Christian Association in Massachusetts, USA. Adding that volleyball is one of Brazil’s most popular sports, he spoke about how the Volleyball Federation of India came into being. “Great moments are born from great opportunity,” Hangsing said in reminding the players that they came to compete and ‘make history.’ He asked the participants to look beyond the court and see if they want to be remembered as ‘ordinary or extraordinary players’ which will depend on their efforts. “Play with passion, play every single defensive point like it’s the one which is going to save the game and every single offensive point like it’s the one that will win the game,” Hangsing told the players. He reminded the players to believe and trust themselves and their teammates, and to ‘play like champions.’ Asserting that winning and losing are part of the game, he urged the players to accept every challenge in order to ‘reach their goals and success.’ Besides defending champions Phesama Youth Organisation, 12 other teams are vying for the men's volleyball competition title while the Elite Sisters, champions of the previous edition along with four teams are playing in the women’s volleyball competition. The men’s volleyball teams are playing the group league system while women teams are playing the round-robin league. Until the league round, each match is being played on the basis of ‘best of three’ while from the elimination round, each game is set aside for ‘best of five’ system. The three-day tournament will conclude on November 28, where the champions will walk away with INR 40,000 while the runners-up will receive INR 20,000. The prize money for women is INR 30,000 for the champions and INR 15,000 for the runners-up. The semi-finalists will receive INR 5000 each while the best setter, best spiker, and best coach from both the categories will receive INR 2000 each. Playing the first match of the tournament in court-1 , defending champions Phesama Youth Organisation defeated Elizer, Kiruphema 25-20, 25 -16 while in the second match,  Kiruphema Youth Organisation beat Khawakhrie United Mezoma 25-14, 25-16. Chenino Brothers won the third match over Falcon Mima 25-19, 25-13 while Kiruphema Youth Organisation blanked United Sporting Club 25-12, 25-22 in the fourth match. Khonoma Youth Organisation defeated St. Joseph’s College 22-25, 25-19, 25-13 in the first match in court -2 while Fun Club Peducha beat Kezo Town Youth Organisation 20-25, 25-10, 25-20. The third match was won by Khonoma Youth Organisation 25-18, 25-19 against Nexus Club. In the women’s volleyball competition, Elite Sisters defeated Khonoma Youth Organisation 25-20, 25-12 while in the second match, Kezo Town Youth Organisation beat St. Joseph College 25-20, 25-18. Today’s matches will commence from 10 am onwards. Court -1 (men’s volleyball) 1st match: Kezo Town Youth Organisation vs Michazou Mima 2nd match: Eliezer Club Kiruphema vs Chenino Brothers 3rd macth: Khawakhrie United Mima vs United Sporting Club 4th match: Elizer Club Kiruphema vs Falcon Club Mima Court -2 1st match: Phesama Youth Organisation vs Falcon Club Mima 2nd match: St. Joseph’s College Jakhama vs Nexus Club 3rd match: Fun Club Peducha vs Michazou Mima 4th match: Phesama Youth Organisation vs Chenino Brothers Court -3 (women’s volleyball) 1st match: Elite Sisters vs Tiema Khe Kidima 2nd match: Khonoma Youth Organisation vs Kezo Town Youth Organisation 3rd match: St. Joseph’s College Jakhama vs Tiema Khe Kidima 4th match: Elite Sisters vs Kezo Town Youth Organisation 5th match: Khonoma Youth Organisation vs St. Joseph’s College Jakhama 6th match: Kezo Town Youth Organisation vs Tiema Khe Kidima 7th match: Elite Sisters vs St. Joseph’s College Jakhama 8th match: Khonoma Youth Organisationvs Tiema Khe Kidima