Lankans land SAsian Volleyball title
KATHMANDU, JUL 16 -
As expected Sri Lanka clinched the First South Asian Invitational Men’s Volleyball Championship by defeating Maldives in straight sets at Tripureshwor covered hall on Monday.
Maldives put up an impressive performance in the first set where they fought tooth and nail until the end. However, Sri Lanka -the most experienced team with an impressive record of making it in the top eight in the Asian Championship- won the first set by a narrow margin of 25-22.
From then on it was an one sided affair. Sri Lanka swept the second and third set 25-19 and 25-23 respictively. Maldives once put on a good fight back in the third set, taking the lead from the beginning. They were in front with the score of 21-20 but Sri Lanka turned the tables quickly, earning five points to seal the match with the score of 25-23.
Along with the winner’s trophy, Sri Lanka also received a cash prize of Rs 2,00,000 while runner’s-up Maldives and second runners-up Nepal pocketed a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 and 50,000 respectively.
“Maldives put on a good fight in the first and third set but we were not bothered as we were confident of winning,” Sri Lanka’s coach Wendakoon M.S.K. said.
He also added that Sri Lanka’s have made a huge leap in the recent years by raising their bar on par against top South Asian nations like India and Pakistan.
Similarly, Maldives coach Mohamed Sharaf too was content with the second spot. “We come hoping for the second spot and I am happy and proud of my boys for getting the job done,” Sharaf said. He also praised the initiation taken by NVA, saying tournaments like this will go a long way in improving the standard of the game in the region. Sri Lanka will hold the second edition of the championship next year.
Janitha Surath of Sri Lanka was adjudged the best players of the championship. Huzaam Ali from Maldives, Keshala Ekenayake from Sri Lanka, Sanjaya from Sri Lanka and Junaid Abdulla from Maldives and Sameera Disanayaka from Sri Lanka were named the best spiker, blocker, setter, libero and server respectively. Four teams, host Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan had participated in the four-day championship.
0 comments
Write Down Your Responses