KATHMANDU, APRIL 8
Tiptop Help Nepal Volleyball Club and Hongwanji New Diamond Sports Club won the titles of the fifth RBB-NVA Club League Volleyball here at the NSC covered hall today.
Help Nepal defeated Nepal APF Club in straight sets to defend the men's section title, while New Diamond came from a set down to beat Nepal Police Club 3-2 in the women's category final. Bulbule Rara Club came third, while NPC were fourth in men's category, while APF and Tribhuvan Army Club finished third and fourth respectively in women's section.
Help Nepal opened the final match with a 25-14 victory in the first set and doubled the lead with a 25-20 win in the second set. They took the third set 25-22 to complete the comprehensive victory. Help Nepal faced just one defeat in the tournament - against APF - in the last leagueround game after they rested three Indian players for the meaningless match as they had already secured the berth in the final. Riding on the dominating performance from the Indian players, Help Nepal did not even drop a single set in the first five league matches.
Binit Kumar of Help Nepal was declared the best player of the tournament, while his teammate Bikash Kumar was named the best setter and their coach Ramesh KC bagged the best coach's award.
Likewise, Murad Jehan and Ghana Shyam Chaudhary of Bulbule Rara were adjudged the best spiker and server respectively, while NPC's Deepak Raj Joshi was named the best blocker and APF's Binod Chand was declared the best defender.
In women's final, New Diamond made a slow start against NPC and lost the first set 22-25 but they bounced back hard to win the next two sets 25-11 and 25-19 to take the 2-1 lead in the match. The departmental side levelled the scores by winning the fourth set 25-21 before New Diamond recorded a 15-11 victory in the final set to capture their first title in three years. They had gone winless since lifting the New Diamond Cup at their home courts in 2018.
Pratibha Mali of New Diamond was declared the best player of the tournament, while her teammates Salina Shrestha and Lalita Nath were named the best defender and server respectively and their coach Kumar Rai was named the best coach. NPC trio Usha Bhandari, Manisha Chaudhary and Kamala Pun bagged the best spiker, blocker and setter awards respectively.
Top four teams in both sections earned Rs 300,000, Rs 150,000, Rs 75,000 and Rs 37,500 respectively, while the players of the tournament received Rs 25,000 each. Likewise, the six best individuals got Rs 10,000 apiece.
A total of 13 teams - seven in men's category and six in women's section - took part in the event organised by Nepal Volleyball Association under the sponsorship of Rashtriya Banijya Bank. Youth and Sports Minister Dawa Tamang, RBB Executive Chief Kiran Kumar Shrestha, Crown Plaza Hotel Director Yubaraj Shrestha and NVA President Manoranjan Raman Sharma among others handed over the prizes to the winners.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 9, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
