Kathmandu, February 8

Kul Bahadur Thapa of Nepal Police Club and Saraswoti Chaudhary of Nepal APF Club won the Player of the Year awards here today.

At the third NVA Awards organised by the Nepal Volleyball Association, Saran Samari Chhetry of Tribhuvan Army Club and Usha Bhandari of NPC were named the emerging players, while Saroj Shrestha (NPC) and Gyanendra Bista (APF) were named the best coaches in men and women sections respectively.

The best players, emerging spikers and coaches received Rs 25,000 each.

NPC and APF were declared the best teams of the year. NPC had won six out of nine tournaments in men’s volleyball, while APF dominated the women’s section with nine titles in 10 appearances.

Both the teams received Rs 100,000 each.

Meanwhile, the NVA felicitated former skipper Kopila Upreti, who announced her retirement from international volleyball, and New Diamond Academy coach Kumar Rai for their long-time contribution in the sport. Upreti, who was the member of the national team since 2003, received letter of appreciation and Rs 50,000, while Rai got felicitation letter and Rs 25,000. The NVA also felicitated Development Director of the Netherlands Volleyball Association Peter van Tarel.

The governing body of national sport, NVA also honoured the members of the first AVC Asian Central Zone Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship gold medal winning team with Rs 25,000 each. Nepal Olympic Committee President Jeevan Ram Shrestha, Vice-president of National Sports Council Pitamber Timsina, NVA President Manoranjan Raman Sharma and General Secretary Jitendra Bahadur Chand among felicitated the players, coaches and officials.