Sports
Army, APF the champions
Departmental teams Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) the men’s and Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club clinched the women’s title of third RBB-NVA Club League volleyball tournament on Monday.Departmental teams Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) the men’s and Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club clinched the women’s title of third RBB-NVA Club League volleyball tournament on Monday.
Held at the National Sports Council covered hall, TAC registered a 25-18, 25-16, 27-25 win over archrivals Nepal Police Club (NPC). The victory meant the Army team also avenged their defeat in five sets during the league stage on Wednesday. NPC and TAC have set the title showdown by virtue of claiming the top two positions in the league.
“We had devised a strategy to tackle the opponents after analysing their weakness and we executed them to perfection,” Army coach Jagadish Bhatta said. NPC, the only undefeated team in the league stage, hardly came close to threatening TAC. But they showed resistance in the third set and even enjoyed three-point cushion at a point, leading 18-15. However, TAC levelled the score at 20-20 before wrapping it up in straight sets.
NPC coach Saroj Shrestha believed that his team failed to replicate the performance that saw them finish the league stage unbeaten. He also pointed out that his team made many unforced errors while receiving the ball, while also not up to the mark in spiking front. The former national team player lauded the performance of his opponents.
In the women’s final, APF saw off defending champion New Diamond Academy 26-24, 25-15, 25-23, a day after pulling off 3-1 set win over same opponent in the league rounds. “We put on a best show overall,” said APF coach Prakash Thapaliya, the former national team skipper. Thapaliya have so far guided the departmental team to four titles since taking charge of the team eight months earlier. “Solid spike and stubborn block was our major weapon in our run to the title,” said Thapaliya.
Dhan Bahadur Bhatta of TAC won the best player award. Kul Bahadur Thapa (best spiker) and Im Rana (best setter) of NPC, Man Bahadur Shrestha (best server), Ishwar Rana (best libero) and Jagdish Bhatta (best coach) of Army and Sanju Bikram Shah (best blocker) earned other individual awards.
In the women’s section, Saraswati Chaudhary of APF was adjudged the best player. Her teammate Usha Bista (best blocker) and Prakash Thapaliya (best coach) won the individual awards. Pratibha Mali (best spiker) of New Diamond, Aruna Shahi (best server) of Tops, Kamala Pun (best libero) of NPC and Janaki Bhandari (best setter) of TAC took other awards.
The champions and runners-up in both the categories earned Rs 200,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively. Third placed teams took 50,000 and fourth-place side received Rs 25,000.