Kiruphema Youth Organisation and Mez and Co. win the 2nd G Rio Memorial Volleyball Trophy in Kohima.
KOHIMA — The Kiruphema Youth Organisation (KYO) men's team and Mez and Co. women's team emerged as champions of the 2nd G Rio Memorial Volleyball Trophy during the grand finale held on Saturday at Kohima Local Ground, Khuochiezie.
The event was organised as part of the 13th Kohima Open Tournament under the aegis of the Kohima District Volleyball Association on October 30 and 31.
The men's champion team received INR 1,50,000, a trophy, and citations, while the women's champion team received INR 80,000, a trophy, and citations.
VM Spikers finished as runner-up in the men's category, receiving INR 80,000, while MADFA was the runner-up in the women's category, receiving INR 50,000.
The semi-finalists in the men's category were KYOB and MH10, each receiving INR 25,000.
The best spikers were Wangmayun in the men's division and Nilivi Chishi in the women's division, while the best setters were Menuoselie Hojha for the men and Kikasenla Ao for the women. All individual awardees received INR 5,000 each.
Director of Youth Resources and Sports Kethosituo Sekhose attended the closing programme as the guest of honour. He stated that volleyball's fanbase is much higher than that of any other sport and called for greater effort in advancing the sport.
He informed that the Indian men's volleyball team ranks around 48th and the women's team ranks 72nd, which can still be improved to a great extent.
He also noted that football's ranking is much lower than volleyball's and called for studying the gaps to advance volleyball. He added that the department and state government have been developing sports on a war footing and informed that they would undertake more ventures on a pilot basis in the near future.
Sekhose said that Manipur produces many medals, crediting the clubs that invested in the sport. He added that clubs have an important role to play and expressed hope that they will promote the game further.