Army outplay NPC in final, Nepal APF triumph

Kathmandu, April 17

Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal APF Club won the titles of the RBB-NVA Club League Volleyball Tournament here at the National Sports Council covered hall today.

TAC defeated departmental rivals Nepal Police Club in straight sets in the men’s category final, while APF also registered a 3-0 victory over New Diamond Academy to claim the women’s title.

In the men’s section, TAC won the first two sets comfortably — 25-18 and 25-16 — after they maintained the lead from the beginning and never looked back.

However, third set became competitive after NPC took a lead of 13-11 by winning four straight points. NPC had a chance to win the set when they went 25-24 ahead but TAC collected three straight points to seal the victory. Help Nepal Sports Club and APF finished third and fourth respectively.

TAC coach Jagadish Bhatta lauded his team’s overall performance. “We were able to hit at the weak points of our opponents and all the players did their jobs well,” he added.

NPC coach Saroj Shrestha said the team was not aware of the final match. “We did not know that we need to play final match in the league. I am surprised of the team’s performance in today’s match. The players were not up to the mark,” Shrestha added.

In women’s final, APF had to struggle in the first set before they won it 26-24 by collecting two important points at the last moment. The departmental side then dominated the match and registered a 25-15 victory in the second set. Both the teams went neck-to-neck in the third set and were tied at 23-all before the APF made it 25-23. NPC and Western Tops bagged third and fourth positions respectively.

Champions TAC and APF received Rs 200,000 each, while runners-up NPC and NDA got Rs 100,000 apiece. The third and fourth teams in both the categories earned Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively. TAC’s Dhan Bahadur Bhatta and APF’s Saraswoti Chaudhary won the best players’ awards and took home Rs 15,000 each.

In men’s category, TAC’s Ishwor Thapa and Man Bahadur Shrestha were named the best defender and server respectively, while NPC’s Em Rana was declared the best setter and Kul Bahadur Thapa was named the best spiker. Help Nepal’s Sanju Bikram Shah got the best blocker’s award, while TAC’s Jagadish Batta was named the best coach.

In women’s section, Usha Bista of APF was named the best blocker, NPC’s Kamala Pun got the award of the best defender, NDA’s Pratibha Mala was adjudged the best spiker, Western’s Aruna Shahi received the best server’s award and TAC’s Janaki Bhatta was named the best setter. APF’s Prakash Thapaliya got the award of best coach. All the individual winners received Rs 5,000 apiece.

Minister for Youth and Sports Daljit Sripaili and Nepal Volleyball Association President Manoranjan Raman Sharma among others handed over the prizes to the winners.

A total of 14 teams — eight in men’s and six in women’s sections — took part in the tournament organised by NVA under the sponsorship of Rastriya Banijya Bank.