Lankans upset Aussies on day one

6th Asian Junior Girls VB Championships:

VOLLEYBALL: The opening day of the 6th Asian Junior Girls Volleyball Championships saw Sri Lanka enter history books when they outplayed strong Aussie girls to win three sets to two in a tense game.

This was the very first occasion that Sri Lankan girl spikers outplayed Aussie girls at any level in spiking.

Sri Lankan girls team which comprises only school lasses took the Aussies seriously and played well to win the first set at 25-20.

But the strong outfit from down under came back strongly to take the next set at 25-22.

This levelling of sets made the match more interesting and both teams had to play at their best.

Sri Lankans managed to win the third set to be ahead of the Aussies again 2-1. Fourth set became the vital set as for Sri Lanka but Aussies in a thrilling finish to grabbed it at 25-23.

This paved the way to go for the fifth set as both teams had won two sets each. Sri Lankan girls with all their hard work kept pressure on the Aussies from the start of this set and went onto with the same at 15-12 and also the match.

The game really was a morale boosting one for the Lankans. They are sure to maintain this winning in the forthcoming matches. Today, they will confront Taipei.

The other teams competing against Sri Lanka will be Thailand, Japan, India, Korea and China. The tournament ends on May 15.

BP