CALCUTTA: Haryana defeated Bihar 15-13, 15-10, 15-11 in men's Group C in the opening match of the National Volleyball tournament being held at Chinsurah in Hoogly District of West Bengal. In another match of the same group, Himachal Pradesh defeated Chandigarh 15-13, 15-12, 15-11.

Orissa men also started with a win, 15-5, 15-4, 15-4 over Maharashtra. The women's team, however, had a better start than their male counterparts, defeating Haryana. Maharashtra won 7-15, 15-8, 15-12, 15-9.

Spikers for Dubai

CHINSURAH: Three times champions India will take part in the seven-nation Volleyball Tournament at Dubai early next month with a redrawn squad. The team would be named on the December 30 after watching the players in action in the Senior National Championship.

MD dominate

ROHTAK: Hosts Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, dominated the fourth day's events of the 39th Inter-University Boxing championship, as eight of its pugilists entered the lastfour in different categories.

Maharashtra win

VIJAYAWADA: AP, Karnataka, Bihar, MP, Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharashtra registered wins in the league matches on the opening day of the men's Senior National Handball Championship. Maharashtra beat Uttar Pradesh 40-33.

Kurukshetra best

KURUKSHETRA: Hosts Kurukshetra claimed men's and women's titles at the all-India Inter-University Handball. In the men's final, Kurukshetra beat Punjab 21-19. In the women's final, Kurukshetra defeated Calicut 15-14.

Winners feted

NEW DELHI: Railway athletes who won medals for India at the Bangkok Asian Games were presented cash awards totalling Rs 10.65 lakh their by Railway minister Nitish Kumar.

Natl shooting

BANGALORE: The 42nd National Shooting Championship will be held here city from January 21 to February 4. The events include free rifle, free rifle prone, short rifle prone, air rifle and centre fire pistol, air pistol and standard pistol.

Digvijay in final

CALCUTTA:Digvijay Singh and Saurav Bahuguna were set for a title clash when they both won their semi-final ties in the Goodricke Golf Tournament. While Digvijay edged past HS Kang in the 17th hole, Saurav pipped N Nageswaran on the 18th hole.

UP take lead

CALCUTTA: Champions UP led the standing of the team events followed by West Bengal and Manipur in the boys section of the 39th Junior National Gymnastics Championship. UP have 275 points, WB (253) and Tripura (246).

Body bldg meet

MANGALORE: The Inter State Body Building competitions for ``Mr India'' title would be held at Moodbidiri from February 4. Builders from Services, Railways, Punjab, Maharashtra and Kerala were expected to take part in the four-day event.