Kathmandu, August 14
Nepal national volleyball team defeated Afghanistan 3-2 in a friendly match ahead of the AVC Asian Senior Men’s Central Region Volleyball Championship here at the Nepali Army Sports Complex covered hall today.
The home team came from a set down to register a 23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13 victory in the first of the two-march friendly series. The second match is scheduled for Thursday.
Nepal and Afghanistan are two of the seven teams taking part in the AVC Asian Senior Men’s Central Region Volleyball Championship slated for August 19-25 in Kathmandu. Three Nepali players Rajendra Bista, Durga Bahadur Khadka and Tek Raj Awasthi made their national team debut from the match. Coach Hann Abing included Bista and Khadka in the starting six, while Awasthi came as a substitute player. Coach Hann Abing tasted his first victory since taking charge of the Nepali team two months ago.
Nepal, who played their first competitive match ahead of the international tournament, looked weak in receiving in the first set and Afghanistan capitalised on that to take the lead. Nepal improved their performance in the second set after coach Abing sent in Kul Bahadur Thapa. The home team almost squandered a 15-9 lead in the third set.
The home team players put in a lot of hard works in the fourth set but that was not enough for Afghanistan to level the scores at 2-2 forcing the fifth and final set. Nepal took 8-5 lead before changing the side of the court. The home team had a poor time in blocking and Afghans made it 8-8. Both the teams went neck-to-neck in the final set before the home team prevailed following an unstoppable spike from Dhan Bahadur Bhatta.
A total of seven nations — Nepal, defending champions Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh — are taking part in the fifth edition of the tournament being held in Nepal for the first time. Nepal had won bronze in the same competition two years ago in Maldives after finishing third in the four-team tournament for their maiden international medal.
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Written by Ankit Khadgi
This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/nepal-beat-afghanistan-in-friendly-volleyball-match/ under the title “Nepal beat Afghanistan in friendly volleyball match”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
