KATHMANDU, Aug 24: Nepal national volleyball team has secured fifth place in the ongoing Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Central Zone Men’s Championship defeating Afghanistan 3-1 in the fifth-place playoff match held at Nepal Army Physical and Sports Training Center in Lalitpur on Friday.

Earlier, Nepal crashed out of group stage after two consecutive losses against Kyrgyzstan and the Maldives. Nepal lost both the matches in straight sets in Group A. 

In the first group stage match, Nepal was defeated at the hands of Kyrgyzstan in straight sets of 25-23, 25-22, 25-22. Then, it lost to the Maldives in three straight sets with 22-25, 21-25, 14-25. 

Afghanistan had won a match in the group stage to finish third in Group B securing a playoff match.
On Friday, Nepal made a promising start winning its first set of the tournament 25-23. However, it lost the second set 23-25 to Afghanistan before making a strong comeback winning the last two sets 25-18 and 26-24 to seal the fifth position in the Asian central zone.

Nepal continued its dominance over Afghanistan as it had defeated the same side 2-0 in the friendly series prior to the tournament.

Likewise, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are set clash for the AVC championship title after winning their respective semifinal matches at the same venue on Thursday. 

In the first semifinal match, Group A winner Kyrgyzstan defeated Group B runner-up and defending champion Turkmenistan in straight sets of 25-17, 25-18, 25-22 .

Similarly, in the second semifinal match, Group B winner Uzbekistan overcame Group A runner-up the Maldives in straight sets of 25-20, 25-19, 25-21.
 

 
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