Sananta and Bank Jatim capture Proliga titles

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/05/2008 11:26 AM  |  Sports

P2B Sananta and Bank Jatim have claimed the winners' trophies in the Sampoerna Hijau Proliga Volleyball tournament, after thrashing their opponents in the finals at the Bung Karno Sports Hall in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Sunday.

In the men's final, Jakarta's Sananta snatched an easy 3-1 win (25-17, 25-20, 15-25, 25-20) over fellow Jakarta team BNI Taplus to claim its first crown in the tournament and take home the winner's purse of Rp 175 million (US$19,021).

Sananta coach Benny Martarius heaped praise on his players for maintaining their fighting spirit until the final whistle.

"We deserved to win the title because we've worked hard for it," he told reporters in the post-match press conference.

Sananta came up with a commanding style to dictate play in the first two sets through strong smashes and serves.

In the third set, BNI Taplus bounced back to put the brakes on Sananta's winning streak by changing up to more aggressive play and a tougher defense with a triple-block from Laodryans Maspaitella, Jack Cabott and Fajar. BNI Taplus managed to steal a point to narrow the gap 2-1.

But Sananta soon refired their fighting spirit and wowed their opponents with several successful jump-smashes and superb teamwork to regain the momentum and wrap up the final set.

BNI Taplus captain Laodryans Maspaitella admitted the Sananta players had better technical skills.

"Sananta is a strong team with many qualified players," he said.

Earlier in the day, Yuso Tomkins of Bantul won the consolation third spot after beating Samator of Surabaya 4-1 in a hard-fought match (28-30, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11).

In the women's division, defending champions Bank Jatim from Surabaya retained the title easily, seeing off Jakarta's PLN Electric in a 3-0 whitewash (25-9, 25-19, 27-25).

Bank Jatim coach Edi Rusiandi said his team had won because they had better skills than PLN Electric.

"I also told them (the players) to maintain their morale. This (morale) was the key factor in the victory," he said.

Bank Jatim dominated the first two sets and took them almost effortlessly.

In the third set, PLN Electric tried to fight back by upping its offense. But scrappy defense and several unforced errors on their side meant the more consistent Bank Jatim swept up the points, taking the critical points to win the decider.

PLN Electric coach Viktor Laiyan said he was disappointed with his team's below-par showing.

"My players failed to bring out their best, as they did in previous matches," Viktor said.

"I told them to hold their nerve and play with composure when faced with the stellar performance of Bank Jatim players. But instead they felt under pressure and were impatient to end the game."

He admitted the poor team effort of PLN Electric was compounded by the better individual skills displayed by the Bank Jatim players.

Third place in the women's division went to BNI Taplus of Jakarta, who beat Petrokimia of Gresik 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 25-18, 25-21). (ewd)

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