Kathmandu, August 13

Nepal national volleyball team will play against Afghanistan in the first of the two-match friendly series here at the Nepali Army Sports Complex covered hall on Wednesday.

The two teams are preparing for the AVC Asian Senior Men’s Central Zone Volleyball Tournament slated for August 19-24 at the same venue. The second and final match of the friendly series will be played on Thursday.

Afghanistan team landed in Kathmandu this morning.

A total of seven nations — Nepal, defending champions Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh — are taking part in the fifth edition of the tournament being held in Nepal for the first time. Nepal had won bronze in the same competition two years ago in Maldives after finishing third in the four-team tournament for their maiden international medal.

Meanwhile, organiser Nepal Volleyball Association said all the preparation works were over and it was ready to host the tournament.

“We have done all the necessary homework to host the tournament and we are really excited to welcome foreign teams and players in our country,” said NVA General Secretary Jitendra Bahadur Chand.

Chand also thanked the sponsors and supporters for their generous help in their bid to make the tournament a grand success. “We are organising such a big tournament for the first time and a lot of corporate houses have joined hands with us. We are grateful to them for their support,” he said.

National Sports Council, Nepal Olympic Committee, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Nepal Satellite Telecom, Shrestha Tailoring, Gold Shoes and Century Bank are the sponsors and partners of the tournament, informed Chand. He said HamroKhelkud, sports dedicated online portal, will telecast all the matches.