Disappointing day for APF; Help Nepal thru

Kathmandu, September 18

Both the teams of Nepal APF Club were knocked out of the third NVA National Club Volleyball Championship here at the National Sports Council covered hall today.

Help Nepal Sports Club thrashed the departmental team in straight sets of 25-20, 25-13, 25-21 in the men’s section semi-final match.

Help Nepal, with four Indian players in the team and inspired by the victory over the defending champions Nepal Police Club in the quarter-finals, looked dominant throughout the match.

Help Nepal also had the height advantages of the Indian players. Shuvam Chaudhary collected 14 points from spike and three points from block, while another Indian recruit Sube Singh earned 10 points from spike, eight from block and three from service. Milan Malla was the top scorer for APF Club with seven points from spike.

Help Nepal will now face another departmental side Tribhuvan Army Club in the championship match. TAC entered the final with a four-set victory over Western Development Region.

Armymen came from a 19-13 deficit to claim the first set 29-27 before the Western team bounced back to win the second set 25-15 and level the scores at 1-1. TAC then regrouped and comfortably won the third set 25-15 and registered a 25-17 victory in the fourth set.

In the women’s section, New Diamond Academy hammered APF in straight sets. New Diamond registered a 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 victory to make it to the final.

Pratibha Mali collected 30 points from spike and two each from block and service in New Diamond’s victory. APF’s Saraswati Chaudhary had 14 points from spike, while Usha Bista collected eight points from spike, two from block and one from service.

New Diamond will now face the challenge of Nepal Police Club in the final after the departmental side saw off Western Tops HS 27-25, 25-21, 25-16 riding on Kopila Upreti’s 17 points from spike. Chuda Khadka contributed 10 points from spike and two each from block and service.

Manju Gurung of Tops earned 17 points from spike and Aruna Shahi managed 10 points from spike.

The final matches are slated for Monday with winners and runners-up taking home Rs 150,000 and Rs 70,000 respectively.