KATHMANDU, April 17: Two departmental teams--Tribhuvan Army Club and Armed Police Force-have lifted the men's and women's titles of the RBB NVA National Women's and Men's League Volleyball on Monday.
To become the champion Army defeated departmental rival Nepal Police Club in the men's final while APF overcame the challenge of New Diamond Academy in women's summit clash held at Dasharath stadium's covered hall, Tripureshwar.
The champions of both the categories were rewarded with Rs 200,000 while the runners-up were given Rs 100,000 respectively.
After the best player of the tournament Dhan Bahadur Bhatta contributed 12 points for Army in the final clash against its arch rival Police, Army registered a 25-18, 25-16, 27-25 win. Dhan accumulated a total of 124.99 points throughout the tournament to become the best player of the tournament in men's category. Man Bahadur Shrestha contributed highest 16 points in the final match for Army that was studded with eight national players.
After guiding his team to the title, Army's head coach Jagdish Bhatta said that his team executed the game plan perfectly in the summit clash against Policem which is a strong side. “As police team's major strength was spike, our main strategy was to block its spikers which my players did perfectly,” said head coach Bhatta.
“After we prevented its spikers to play freely, Police came under pressure and we capitalized on the situation,” added Bhatta.
Meanwhile, Police's head coach Saroj Shrestha expressed his dissatisfaction toward the format of the tournament. “The format of this tournament is shocking as we, league round topper, had to face the team that finished in second position for the title,” said head coach Shrestha. Earlier, Police had defeated Army 3-2 in the league round match.
Help Nepal Sports Club and Armed Police Force (APF) finished third and fourth respectively in the men's category. Help Nepal and APF were awarded with Rs 75,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively.
Best player of the tournament in men's category Dhan Bahadur of Army was rewarded with Rs 20,000. Similarly, Army's Jagdish Bhatta, Man Bahadur Shrestha and Ishwor Rana were declared as best coach, best server and best libero respectively. Likewise, Police's Em Rana and Kul Bahadur Thapa were announced as best setter and spiker respectively while Help Nepal's Sanju Bikram Shah was declared the best blocker. All the best players in each position alongside the best coach were rewarded with Rs 10,000.
APF downs Army to win KNP National Women Volleyball
Women's category
Meanwhile national players-studded APF defeated New Diamond 3-1 in the final clash of the women's category. APF maintained its unbeaten run to become the league champion. APF's head coach Prakash Thapaliya said that playing up to its potential helped his team taste victory over New Diamond. “Blocking has been our strength in the tournament and today my players blocked Diamond's shots really well. Opponent had great spikers but preventing them helped us seal the victory,” said head coach Thapaliya.
“We played very carefully in order to give less negative points to the opponent which also helped us today,” added Thapaliya.
New Diamond's head coach Kumar Rai admitted that the lack of allrounder spiker cost his team in the final. “We don't have good allrounder spiker in the team which eventually affected the outcome.
Our blockers also are young and inexperienced so that also didn't help us today,” said head coach Rai.
“Our major strength are defense and spike but today we couldn't utilize them in the way we should have,” added Rai.
In the meantime, Police and Western Region finished the women's league in the third and fourth positions respectively. Police and Western Region were awarded with Rs 75,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively.
APF's Saraswati Chaudhary was declared the best player of the tournament in women's category while Prakash Thapaliya and Usha Bista of the same team were announced as the best coach and best blocker. Similarly, Janaki Bhandari of Army, Aruna Shahi of Western Region and Kamala Pun of Police were announced as best setter, server and libero respectively. All the best players alongside the best coach were given Rs 10,000.
