Lalitpur, August 29

Nepal national volleyball team came from a set down to beat Bangladesh 3-1 in their first of the two-match friendly series here at the Nepal Army Sports Complex today.

In a match that began two-and-half hours later as the organisers waited for the arrival of chief guest Defense Minister Bhimsen Das Pradhan, Nepal squandered a healthy lead before Bangladesh took the first set 27-25. Nepal then bounced back to claim three straight sets 25-17, 25-16 and 25-23 to take revenge over the visitors.

Nepal opened on a bright note winning first two points but the battle went neck-to-neck. Nepal then opened up a 21-19 lead before the hosts gave away two easy points to level the first set at 23-all. Nepal had a chance to seal the set at 25-24 but they failed to kill the game and Bangladesh took the set in style after claiming two straight points after levelling the scores at 25-all.

Nepal came back strongly in the second set. The hosts took the lead and maintained that this time around to win the set comfortably. Nepal won four straight points to make it 19-12 and the lead proved crucial as Nepal levelled the match at 1-1 by winning the set 25-17. The home side dominated the third set. Nepal opened up a 21-16 lead and won four straight points to win the set 25-16 when they collected four straight points to win the set.

Bangladesh put up a tough fight in the fourth set but Nepal completed the victory with a 25-23 to win. Nepal had a 17-13 lead but the visitors made it 19-all and they were tied at 22-all at one stage. Nepal then won two straight points before Bangladesh got one. Nepal did not let the visitors to stage a comeback and won a point to complete the victory.

Nepal coach Jagadish Bhatta lauded his players performance especially in receiving and blocking. “We did well in receiving and improved in blocking. We used spikers from different positions to create pressure on the opponents as we wanted to keep them guessing about our strategy,” said Bhatta.

Bhatta said his side lost the opening set due to minor mistakes in service and defense. “We had pressure of playing in front of the home crowd and we also made a couple of minor mistakes in service and defense,” said Bhatta, whose team avenged the defeat faced in the AVM Central Zone Volleyball Tournament in the Maldives five months ago.

Bangladesh’s coach Ali Pour Aroji, who missed the services of skipper Al Zabir due to fever, said his side had problems in blocking and receiving. “We committed a lot of mistakes in blocking and receiving as we used new players in the match. Similarly, our skipper also failed to play well due to fever,” said Aroji.

The second and final match of the series is on Wednesday.