Central Zone volleyball: At the Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday, Nepal’s women national volleyball team defeated Uzbekistan in a five-set thriller to retain the AVC Asian Central Zone Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup.
Central Zone volleyball
Despite winning the group stage in straight sets, Nepal, the winners of the last tournament in Bangladesh in 2019, had to fight for victory against the same opponents. The Asian Volleyball Confederation’s second-tier inter-country Asian championships were won by Nepal 26-24, 24-26, 25-15, 22-25, 15-10.
Nepal has marched into the final, headed by captain Aruna Shahi and coach Jagadish Bhatta, after finishing first in the round-robin league format battle to capture their second international trophy. They’ve won all five league games to keep their perfect record in the six-team competition, in which the top two teams after the league round were guaranteed a spot in the final.
Bhatta, Nepal’s coach, remarked after the victory: “The girls were under pressure to win because they were the defending champions. We had to fight after giving up points in receiving and serving, extending the match to the fifth set. However, we are pleased to have won the national team’s second international trophy. I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone who assisted us in getting here.”
Uzbekistan, who had lost 25-20, 25-23, and 25-14 in the group stage, chose an offensive approach in the opening set and led from start to finish until Nepal clawed back to square the score at 18 before winning 26-24 in a tiebreaker.
Uzbekistan gained an early lead in the second set as well, leading 23-19 when their coach was kicked off for unsportsmanlike conduct. Nepal tied the set at 24 points apiece but lost the set 26-24. Central Zone volleyball
Nepal won the third set 25-15 after scoring eight consecutive points from 10-11 to take an 18-11 lead. Uzbekistan won the penultimate set 25-12 to take the match to the fifth set. After the scores were deadlocked 8-8 in the decisive set, Nepal scored five points in a row to take a 13-10 lead and eventually win 15-10. Central Zone volleyball
Nepal had overcome a two-set deficit against Sri Lanka in their opening game to win in 3-2 sets, and they had also won straight sets against Maldives, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan during the league stage. Nepal had not dropped a single set in the previous edition, but they were forced to fight for a 3-2 set win in two matches this time.
Sri Lanka won the third-place playoff match in straight sets over Kyrgyzstan.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s men’s team finished fourth in the competition after losing to Uzbekistan in straight sets in the third-place playoff, 25-15, 25-18, 25-22. Central Zone volleyball
Sri Lanka won the men’s tournament in straight sets, defeating Bangladesh 28-26, 25-20, 25-20.
