At the PB Siddhartha Arts and Science Junior College here, the 68th School Games National Volleyball Tournament for Under-19 Girls got underway in style on Monday. Teams from 25 states are competing in the national tournament, and Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, and others record their maiden victories. The league-cum-knockout structure is being used, and matches are taking place on floodlit, international-standard courts. The five-day tournament is being hosted by the School Games Federation Krishna District Under-19 Unit and the School Games Federation of Andhra Pradesh (SGFAP).

MLA for Vijayawada East The event was opened by Gadde Rama Mohana Rao, and the state teams that were competing presented a guard of honor to Kandula Durgesh, Minister for Tourism, Culture, and Cinematography.

In her explanation of the state’s New Sports Policy, Animini Ravi Naidu, the chairman of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP), said that athletes who performed in national and international tournaments would get significant incentives. According to him, monetary awards would be given out in a number of categories.

PB Siddhartha Arts and Science Junior College Principal Ch Venkateswarlu, School Games Krishna District Under-19 Secretary V Ravikantha, Krishna District Volleyball Association Secretary D Dayakar, School Games Federation of India Field Observer Pradeep Yadav, Assistant Secretary KV Radhakrishna, and SGFAP Secretary G Bhanumurthy Raju were among those present at the inauguration.

The league stage saw the first victories for hosts Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, CBSE, CISCE, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh on the opening day. In an exciting match, Madhya Pradesh upset Chandigarh 25-17, 25-20, 25-16, while Himachal Pradesh defeated Telangana 25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 25-22. Andhra Pradesh beat Uttarakhand 25-15, 25-15, 25-15; CBSE defeated Punjab 3-2; Uttar Pradesh defeated Rajasthan 3-0; Odisha defeated Jharkhand 25-06, 25-11, 25-09; CISE defeated Vidya Bharathi 25-11, 25-13, 25-09; and Andhra Pradesh defeated Uttarakhand 25-15, 25-15, 25-15.