Kathmandu, February 5

Hongwanji New Diamond Youth Sports Club and defending champions Nepal APF Club advanced to the final of the sixth KNP Nerolac National Women's Volleyball Tournament here at the NSC covered hall today.

New Diamond defeated Nepal Police Club 3-1 to register their second straight victory and they accumulated six points from two matches. The win also sent APF into final. Earlier, APF outplayed Tribhuvan Army Club in straight sets for their second consecutive win.

Both New Diamond and APF have six points each and they will face each other in the third and final match of the group stage on Monday. Two other teams, Nepal Police Club and Tribhuvan Army Club are yet to open their accounts. They willplay against each other in the final match of the group stage on Monday and the same two teams will also play for the third-place match. The third place and final matches are slated for Tuesday.

In the day's second match, New Diamond came from a set down to beat NPC and sealed the final berth with one match on hand. The departmental side won the first set 25-22 but they lost momentum.

New Diamond won the second set 25-15 to level the scores at 1-1 and they staged a great comeback in the third set to take the 2-1 lead. New Diamond were trailing 16-10 in the third set before they bounced back strongly to win it 25-22.

New Diamond then sealed the victory with a 25-19 win in the fourth set. New Diamond's Pratibha Mali was named the player of the match and she received trophy and Rs 10,000.

In another match, defending champions APF outplayed departmental rivals TAC in straight sets. APF - who had defeated NPC 3-0 in their first match on Sunday - recorded a 25-17, 25- 21, 25-15 victory against TAC.

Niruta Thagunna of APF was named the player of the match and she earned Rs 10,000.

A total of four teams are taking part in the tournament organised by Sher Bahadur Khadka Memorial Foundation under the sponsorship of KNP Nerolac paints. The winners of the fourday tournament will receive Rs 300,000, while the runners-up and third place teams will earn Rs 150,000 and Rs 75,000 respectively.

The best player of the tournament will get Rs 50,000, while the best server, defender, setter, libero, spiker and coach will receive Rs 15,000 each. The emerging player will receive Rs 15,000, while player of the match will get Rs 10,000.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 6, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.