Nepali women win in SAG volleyball, men lose

KATHMANDU, Nov 27: Nepal women’s volleyball team opened the South Asian Games campaign with a straight set win over Bangladesh on Wednesday while men’s team lost against Bangladesh 3-2.

In women’s match, Nepal registered a comfortable win against Bangladesh 25-9, 25-9, 25-11 at the National Sports Council’s covered hall and secured three points to gain early advantage in Group A.

In Group B, the Maldives women got three points without playing after Pakistan failed to appear for the game.

Nepal recently claimed the historic AVC Central Zone Senior Women’s Championship in Bangladesh and is looking for their first gold in SAG.

And coach Jagadish Bhatta was optimistic they could win gold medal following the victory.

“We were very good today. If our players continue playing like today, we can definitely win gold,” said Bhatta.

Nepal will take on India in the second group match on Thursday while Sri Lanka will face Pakistan later the same day.

But it was not a happy day for men as they lost to Bangladesh 25-21, 23-25, 25-19,24-26,12-15 at home despite playing a competitive game.

Nepal lost the early lead but showed a powerful game to take the game to 2-1 but lost eventually to hand the Bangladesh their first point.

Bangladesh will face India on Thursday, and with a win Bangladesh can secure a semifinal spot. If India wins, both India will have three points and will wait for final group match to qualify to the next round.

Pakistan is also scheduled to the Maldives on the same day.

For Nepal, it will be a must-win encounter when it vies against India on Friday.