Chennai: A 12-member Tamil Nadu squad for the national volleyball championship was finalised on Saturday.
Setter Karthik who masterminded SRM's win over IOB in the final of the state championship recently has found a place. Universal C. Jerome Vinith (SRM), attacker Anandraj (IOB) and blocker Akin (Krishna College) will be making their national debut along with Karthik. The final selection was made midway through the camp at Velammal Engineering College, Surapet.
IOB libero Bala is a surprise inclusion. It would be difficult to say that he was in great form at the state championship. With a provision in place to play two liberoes at the same time, it's not a bad idea to go to the nationals with two specialists back-row players.
But the selection committee could have gone for a youngster with an eye on the future.
IOB blocker N. Shelton Moses was unlucky to miss out on the nationals. He wasn't even called for the camp. Moses is one of the most experienced campaigners in Tamil Nadu and he was keen to play the nationals starting in Uttar Pradesh from December 22.
The squad: Setters: M. Ukkrapandian (IOB) and Karthik (SRM). Attackers: M. Naveen Raja Jacob (IOB), John Christopher (Customs) and Anandraj (IOB). Blockers: G.R. Vaishnav (IOB), G. Pradeep (Income Tax) and Akin (Krishna College). Universals: C. Jerome Vinith (SRM) and D. Selvaprabhu (IOB).
Liberoes: S. Kanagaraj (Customs) and Bala (IOB).
