Police defeated arch rival APF in straight sets to lift the title remaining unbeaten and avenge the defeat suffered during the 27th National Men´s Volleyball Tournament held about two weeks ago in Tehrathum. Riding on a strong defense and powerful spikes, Police beat APF 25-19, 25-23, 28-26 to hand the latter its first defeat in the league.[break]
Police won the title collecting 15 points, three more than second-placed APF while Nepal Army Club finished third in the tournament contested by six teams.
Police skipper Im Rana Magar said his side was happy to avenge the defeat suffered in Tehrathum. "Compared to matches against APF in other tournaments, the win in straight sets was a bit easy. In Tehrathum we had lost in the fifth set," said Rana Magar.
New Diamond Sports Club had claimed the women´s title on Friday winning all three matches. APF defeated Police 22-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-14 on Saturday to finish second with six points. Western Region secured the third position with one win while Police finished bottom without a point. Altogether four teams had competed in the event.
The top three finishers of both sections bagged Rs 150,000, Rs 75,000 and Rs 40,000 respectively. APF´s Kailash Dutta Bhatta and Nebika Chaudhary were declared the players of the tournament and received Rs 25,000 each.
In the men´s category, APF players won four of the five individual awards. Khushi Chaudhary, Mahendra Shrestha, Pushpa Jung Malla and Kul Bahdur Thapa of APF were declared the best setter, blocker, defense and server respectively. Chandra Kunwar of Police was declared the best spiker.
In the women´s section, APF´s Neema Shrestha and Binita Budhathoki of APF were declared the best spiker and setter respectively. Similarly, Saraswati Chaudhary of Western Volleyball Training Center won the award for best blocker, Salina Shrestha of New Diamond for best defense and Kripa Adhikari of New Diamond for best server. The best players of both men´s and women´s sections got Rs 5,000 each.
In the men´s match held on Saturday, Police took a three-point lead in the beginning of first set but APF narrowed it down to two points making the score 6-4. But Police slowly widened the gap to 19-13 before finally wrapping up the set 25-19.
The second set looked fairly competitive with scores tied at 11-11 midway through the set. But Police won five consecutive points to make it 16-11 and build a foundation for victory. The Police team won the set 25-23.
The last set remained highly competitive from start to finish as the scores were tied on a number of occasions. Both the teams were tied at 24-24 and again at 26-26. But Police earned two successive points to take the set 28-26 for a thrilling victory.
Aryal, Tandukar win player of the year awards
Sanjay Aryal of Nepal Police Club and Ramila Tandukar of New Diamond won the male and female player of the year award introduced by the Nepal Volleyball Association (NVA) this year. Aryal received an Anna Lifan motorbike while Tandukar received a scooter.
According to NVA, the best players were selected on the basis of their performance throughout the year. Aryal had helped Police lift three titles during the year. Aryal said his achievement was possible due to support from his coach and teammates. "I am overwhelmed to receive this award. It was a great year in volleyball not only for me but for all volleyball players as we got chance to play in many big tournaments."
Tandukar, the winner in the women´s category, said the award will help her to perform better and more responsibly in future.
NVA also felicitated former international players Harihar Shretha, Min Dhoj Khadka, Ramesh Kharel, Narendra Kumar Singh, Jagadish Prasad Shrestha, Bharat Shah and Kaushila Khatri for their contributions to volleyball.
Likewise, volleyball coach Jagadish Bhattarai was awarded Rs 15,000 for his contribution in producing volleyball players. Similarly, Nawalparasi District Volleyball Association was declared the best district association and Western Region the best regional association.
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