Western Region pulled off a straight sets victory over the host Eastern Region Volleyball Association. Western Region won the match 25-8, 25-14, 25-11 at the court of Public High School, Dharan.[break]
Western Region, which featured national volleyball stars like Manju Gurung and Rishisara Thapa, dominated the match against rookie players of Eastern Region.
Shigeru Nemoto, coach of the winning team, said his team is confident of winning the tournament and performed as per expectations in the opening match. "We have been training for the last two months and the team is confident of winnnig the tournament," said Nemoto.
Eastern Region captain Jiwani Rai said they didn´t have sufficient training. "We trained for only six days while other teams are well-prepared for the tournament," said Rai.
New Diamond Academy, Kathmandu will take on DSA Koch Bihar, India on Monday while Nepal Police Club will lock horns with the host team.
Altogether seven teams, including two from India, are participating in the tournament. The winner will get Rs 105,000 while the runner-up will bag Rs 50,000.
Earlier, National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama inaugurated the tournament. He said the government body is focused to develop infrastructure in the eastern region as it is hosting the Seventh National Games next year.
Former national players felicitated
Eastern Region Volleyball Association felicitated three former national volleyball players during the inauguration ceremony of the tournament.
Rishiraj Acharya, the first captain of Nepali national team, as well as former players Deepak Sapkota and Ganga Bahadur Thapa Magar were felicitated on the occasion. Sapkota played for the national team for 12 years while former player Thapa served as president of the Nepal Volleyball Association for 15 years. Acharya had captained the Nepali team during an invitational tournament in Pakistan in 2033 BS.
NSC Member Secretary Lama handed over letters of appreciation to all the three former players.
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