APF was forced to play four sets against Western Region as its skipper Neema Shrestha left the court due to injuries in the third set. APF won the first two sets 25-18, 25-21 and the skipper received knee injuries in the third set when the score was 19-22. [break]
The departmental team eventually lost the set 24-26. APF took the fourth set 25-18. APF will take on Far-western Region on Thursday.
APF coach Kapil Kishor Shrestha opined that the team lost coordination in the third set after departure of Shrestha due to injury. "Shrestha is an experienced player. The team looked nervous for a while in her absence. But they regained composure in the following set," coach Kapil said, adding Shrestha has slim chance of making a comeback in the tournament.
Western Region coach Kaushila Khatri said that lack of good players in the team cost them dearly. "We faced tough time setting up the team as three former key players -- Saraswati Chaudhary, Hira KC and Nisana Balal -- joined APF. Thus we gave chances to some junior players in the squad. However, we are not nervous and the team played to its potential."
"Due to lack of good players we had to field libero Manti Ale. New libero Ranjana Khand looked nervous and our defense was weak. We don´t have main blocker in the squad thus the performance was weak," Khatri told.
Saraswati Chaudhary of APF was declared the player-of-the-match against her former team. Though she hails from far-western region, she was a regular member of Western Region.
Meanwhile, title contender Police made a flying start with a straight sets win over Eastern Region. The Police team led by Neeta Shah beat Eastern 25-8, 25-6, 25-12. Kopila Uprety of the departmental team was declared the player-of-the-match. Police will take on Mid-western Region on Thursday.
In the last encounter of the day, New Diamond registered a comfortable 25-6, 25-3, 25-13 win over Mid-western Region. New Diamond´s skipper Ramila Tandukar was declared the player-of-the-match. New Diamond will take on Eastern on Thursday.
Earlier, APF IGP Koshraj Onta inaugurated the tournament that carries the highest cash prize in volleyball with the top three team getting Rs 250,000, Rs 125,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively. Remaining matches of the tournament will be held at the Dasharath Stadium.
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