Kathmandu, March 23

Nepal national volleyball team faced a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Turkmenistan in the opening match of the third AVC Central Zone Volleyball Tournament in the Maldives on Thursday.

Nepal lost 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 against the tournament favourites Turkmenistan. Two Nepali players, Quick Spiker Hari Adhikari and Open Spiker Dil Sunar, made their national team debut from the match.

Nepal will face hosts Maldives in their second match on Friday and are scheduled to take on Kyrgyzstan on March 27.

Nepal assistant coach Jagdish Bhatta was happy with the team’s overall performance. “Turkmenistan are the strongest team in the tournament and our players exceeded the expectations in today’s match. We had a problem in blocking as Turkmenistan players had a high reach. If we can perform at this level in other two matches, we can win both the games,” said Bhatta.

“Tomorrow’s match against Maldives is crucial for us and that will decide our fate of making it to the final. As both the teams are of same level, we will opt for power game and try to play as fast as we can,” he added.

A total of four teams are taking part in the round-robin tournament. Top team will make it to the final, while the next two will play against each other for a place in the final.