Nepal beat Bangladesh, sweep friendly series

Lalitpur, August 30

Nepal national volleyball team defeated Bangladesh 3-2 in their second match of the two-match friendly series here at the Nepal Army Sports Complex today.

Nepal, who had defeated Bangladesh 3-1 on Tuesday, won their second match 19-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 15-8 and claimed the friendly series 2-0.

In the first set, Nepal took a two-point lead at one stage before Bangladesh bounced back to make it 11-7 and the visitors never looked back to take 1-0 lead.

However, Nepal staged a comeback to win the second set despite the visitors’ strong performance. Nepal won five straight points to take a 8-3 lead. However, Bangladesh struggled to tie the score at 14-all before Nepal won two points and that proved crucial as the hosts won the set and levelled the scores at 1-1.

Bangladesh, who had faced a 3-1 defeat in the first match despite taking a 1-0 lead on Tuesday, were not in mood to let things go from their hands so easily and took the third set 25-20.

The battle went neck-to-neck until Bangladesh won four straight points to take a 16-12 lead and maintained it to win the set to go ahead for the second time. However, the scenario changed in the fourth set as the hosts lost the opening point but came strongly to level the scores at 7-all. It became 13-all and 15-all before Nepal won four straight points and won the battle riding on the lead.

Nepal stood firm in the final set. They won the opening point and opened up a 11-6 lead before frustrating the visitors. Bangladesh had defeated Nepal 3-0 in the AVM Central Zone Volleyball Tournament in the Maldives five months ago.

Nepali team head coach Jagadish Bhatta said the battle became a tough one after his side played under pressure. “Although, we won the match due to strong receive and powerful attack, we played under pressure in all five sets.

Similarly, Bangladesh put pressure on us as they were good in service and blocking,” said Bhatta, who added that his team committed mistakes in service and receiving in the beginning.

As Bangladesh played the game without head coach Ali Pour Aroji, their assistant coach Zarul Islam denied to give reaction about the match.

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