Saturday 27th July 2024
Despite losing a closely fought first set, the Nepal volleyball team came back strongly in the next three sets and outclassed Bangladesh 25-27, 25-17, 25-16, 25-23 in the first match of the friendly series between the two South Asian countries on Tuesday.
The first set saw a see-saw battle between the two sides with Nepal leading 21-19 at one stage and gaining a set point at 25-24. However, three straight points scored by the visitors gave them the set and an early lead in the match.
The Nepal spikers and defenders put up a much-improved performance in the next two sets and dominated their opponents with ease. Though Bangladesh tried to stage a spirited comeback in the fourth set it was of no avail and Nepal sealed the match with a 25-23 score.
Spiker Kul Bahadur Thapa was the top scorer for Nepal with 21 points while Hari Adhikari, Man Bahadur Shrestha and Skipper Im Rana scored 13, 12 and 9 points respectively.
Nepal coach Jagadish Bhatta praised the splendid performance of the players and added that “We did well in receiving and improved in blocking. We used spikers from different positions to create pressure on the opponents as we wanted to keep them guessing about our strategy.”
The two teams will meet again in the second and final match of the series today.
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