KATHMANDU, April 12: Help Nepal Sports Club has climbed atop the men's category of the ongoing RBB NVA National Women's and Men's Club League Volleyball defeating Manimukunda Volleyball Club in its second match on Wednesday. Help Nepal, which overcame the challenge of Manimukunda in straight sets of 25-22, 25-20, 25-17 at the Dasharath Stadium's covered hall, Tripureshwar, extended its points tally to six.
Meanwhile, Nepal Police Club produced a hard fought 3-2 victory over departmental rival Tribhuvan Army Club on the same day to jump to the second position in the table. To extend its points tally to four, Police edged past Army with the score-line of 25-17, 18-25, 23-25, 21-25, 16-14 at the same venue. Police had overcome another departmental rival Armed Police Force (APF) in the opening match on Tuesday.
Franchise-based women’s volleyball league in October
After defeating two strong departmental teams, Police has presented itself as one of the strong teams in the league but skipper Em Rana says it is still early to comment about the outcome of the league. “We still haven't thought about the potential position we are going to get in the league because it is too early to think about it. But beating strong opponents like Army and APF has obviously eased the pressure on us,” said skipper Rana.
Army, which was second in the league last season behind Help Nepal, is regarded as the strongest team in domestic volley at the moment given the presence of eight national players in the squad. Similarly, Butwal-based outfit Help Nepal has signed four Indian players including two ex-national players for this new league campaign.
As Police is a blend of new faces and experienced old guards, captain Rana believes that his team will be dependent on the performances of the new players. “We have many young players in the current squad so our overall performance will be dependent on them as well. Last season, we finished the league in third position. We need to aim higher than that this season,” added Rana.
Meanwhile in the same category, Jawalakhel Volleyball Training Center played two matches producing one win and a defeat. In its first match of the day, Jawalakhel beat Dhorpatan Sports Club by 21-25, 25-16, 27-25, 25-18. Likewise in the second match, it faced defeat to APF with the score-line of 25-17, 25-16, 25-18.
