POKHARA, Feb 6: Armed Police Force (APF) continued its fine form in the ongoing Srijana Invitational International Men's and Women's Volleyball Tournament as it registered wins in the both men's and women's categories on Monday.
The departmental side defeated Help Nepal Sports Club 3-1 in the men's category while it overcame host Western Region in straight sets of 3-0 in the women's event.
On the same day, another departmental team Nepal Police Club produced mixed results as it won its match against Western Region in straight sets of 3-0 in men's category while faced defeat in the women's category against New Diamond Academy 3-2.
In the men's category match played at Pokhara Stadium's volleyball court, APF overcame the challenge of Help Nepal 25-22, 25-13, 20-25, 25-19. Similarly in the women's category, APF studded with national players registered an easy win of 25-17, 25-10, 25-19 over the home team Western Region. After the match, APF's head coach Prakash Thapaliya said one of the key players Bijay Tamang pulled injury during the match preventing his team from winning straight sets victory. “Bijay got injured during the game, due to which balance of the team was affected. Hence, we were forced to lose that one set. Otherwise we would have won all sets,” said head coach Thapaliya. He also said that his team registering victory in the women's category was obvious as APF, studded with national players, has a very strong squad.
Srijana volleyball begins today
Western Region which used to be very strong team in domestic women's volleyball but due to lack of the experienced players it is struggling lately according to head coach Kaushila Khatri. “Our current squad is very weak and it also lacks experienced players who have joined other teams affecting our performance. We also don't have good young players coming to the team,” said head coach Khatri. She also informed that only Manju Gurung and Manti Ale are the experienced members of the team as another old guard Aruna Shahi was absent citing household works. “Despite fielding young players, we succeed to pull good points against a strong team like APF so I am satisfied with the result,” further added Khatri.
On the same day, Police registered straight sets win of 25-10, 25-19, 25-18 over Western Region in the men's category. After the match, head coach of the men's team of Western Region, Krishna Thapa, echoed the same as women's head coach Khatri pointing out to his weak squad due to the lack of players. “We have very weak squad as the availability of players is low. There are limited players in domestic volleyball and most of them are already associated with other stronger teams. With this squad, I don't have high expectation,” said head coach Thapa.
Police team which registered win in the men's event couldn't replicate the same form in the women's category as it was defeated by New Dimaond 19-25, 25-14, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9. Police head coach Bharat Shah said that experienced players and young faces failing to combine well saw his team losing the match. “We have many new players in the team and they couldn't cope with pressure today. And there also wasn't good combination between new and experienced players which affected the outcome,” said head coach Shah. Kamana Bista, Pushpa Chaudhary and Kopila Rana are the new players of the team while players like Sushila Thapa, Kopila Upreti and Manisha Chaudhary are experienced players of the squad.
Wining side New Diamond's head coach Kumar Rai said that his players couldn't play up to the mark despite pulling the victory. “Police is not a weak team, it always gives tough fight to us. Today my players couldn't play up to their capacity. However, I am hopeful of doing well in the coming matches,” said head cocah Rai.
On Tuesday, Western Region will take on visiting team Uttar Pradesh Volleyball Association (UPVA) of India in the men's category while Help Nepal and Triubhuvan Army Club will battle in another match of the same event. Similarly in the women's category, New Diamond will face UPVA and while Western Region and Army will vie in another match on the same day.
