Kathmandu, Jun. 2: The 8th PM Cup: NVA Men’s and Women’s Volleyball League kicked off in the covered hall of Dasharath Rangasala on Saturday. It is the biggest national tournament of volleyball, Nepal’s national sport, organised by the Nepal Volleyball Association (NVA).

Eight men’s teams and six women’s teams are participating in the tournament. The teams qualified for the PM Cup from the 8th RBB-NVA Volleyball League in March 2024. Tip Top Help Nepal Sports Club and Everest Volleyball Club lifted the trophies in the men’s and women’s categories in the League.

The winner of the league in the men’s category, Tip Top Help Nepal Sports Club, opened the 8th PM Cup on June 1. The champions started the PM Cup with a win by defeating Budhanilkantha  Volleyball Club in the tournament opener. Six matches were played on the opening day.

Tip Top, which has three Pakistani players in the team, won the first two sets (25-20 and 25-12), but lost the third (27-29); however, they clinched the match by winning the fourth set by 25-22. It was the first of the six matches played on the opening day.

In the second match of the day, Nepal Police Club defeated Far West Province by winning the three sets consecutively (25-20, 25-15 and 25-16). Far West has included Indian players in the squad.

While one departmental club started the tournament with a win, the Armed Police Force (APF) Club started with a loss. APF was defeated by Gandaki.

Gandaki won the first set by 25-22, but the APF bounced back in the second set (25-19). Nevertheless, Gandaki went on to win the next two sets (25-20 and 25-19).

After the three matches in the men’s category, two matches in the women’s category were played in the Covered Hall. While APF faced Chandragiri New Diamond, Nepal Police Club competed with Tribhuwan Army Club. 

In the first match of the women’s teams, APF emerged victorious. It was one of the most competitive matches of the day as the two teams won two sets each and played the fifth set for the decider.

APF won the first and fourth sets (25-23 and 25-15) and Chandragiri won the second and third sets (25-23 and 25-20). Meanwhile, APF showed the team dominance in the final set as the team won by a score of 15-3. Until 7:15 pm, in the women’s category, Nepal Police was leading against Tribhuwan Army by winning the first set. After the match, Tribhuwan Army and Koshi Province, in the men’s category, played in the final match of the day.

According to the organisers, the tournament was organised in a packed schedule due to a lack of enough covered halls for the sport. Meanwhile, Minister for Youth and Sports Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, during the inauguration ceremony of the tournament, to construct a better covered hall by the next fiscal year.

On Sunday, Everest Volleyball Club is facing Karnali Province and Nepal Police is facing Chandragiri New Diamon in the women’s category. Similarly, Army vs Budhanilkantha, Gandaki vs Far West, Nepal Police vs APF and Tip Top vs Karnali are the matches in the men’s category.