With a 3-2 win over New Diamond, Fishtail Academy of Pokhara set up a final showdown with cross-town competitor Gyanu Baba Academy who defeated Nepal Police Club in a five-set thriller with the same scoreline. [break]
Fishtail won the first two sets and the lost the following two and as the game was tied at 2-2, Gurung played a pivotal role to steer Fishtail to victory.
Gurung´s teammate Saraswati Chaudhari, having advantage of her great height, was equally impressive in the first semifinal match as her good placings and fine shots along with Gurung´s powerful spikes helped Fishtail win the first two sets 25-20, 25-19.
Fishtail looked like cruising toward victory with only one set remaining but New Diamond gave a tough challenge in the third set. Fielding three players from India, New Diamond took lead in the third set until the game got tied at 19-19, but Fishtail finally lost the set 22-25.
New Diamond was in good form in the fourth set as well maintaining the lead throughout the set to seal a 25-21 win.
However, Gurung gave a 6-0 lead to Fishtail and then the score was 11-3 at one point before finally wrapping up the game 15-7.
The odd-one-out in the match was twelve-year-old Salina Shrestha of New Diamond in an all-adult game. Despite her tiny size, she put up a show on par with her senior team members.
In the other semifinal, Police gave a tough challenge to Gyanu Baba that won the first set 25-21. Police bounced back to win the next two sets 25-22, 25-23 to give a scare to Gyanu Baba. But the well-experienced team from Pokhara fought back its way into the final, winning the last two sets 25-18, 15-12 with an exemplary performance of Pariksha Gurung.
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