Nepal had mixed results in the opening day of volleyball competitions under the 13th South Asian Games, with the women’s team scoring a comfortable win and the men losing in a thrilling fifth setter.

Nepali women volleyball team began their campaign in style, storming past Bangladesh 25-9, 25-9, 25-11 in their opening Group ‘A’ match at the Dashrath Stadium covered hall in Tripureshwor on Wednesday. The 10-day regional sporting spectacle, however, officially begins on December 1.

Nepal head coach Jagadish Bhatta said, “We had been preparing well for the Games, and we are just beginning to see the results. Our game appeared relatively slow today as Bangladesh themselves were not aggressive. We had to adapt to their approach.”

Nepal had also defeated Bangladesh 25-4, 25-9, 25-6 during the AVC Central Zone tournament. Bhatta’s side went on to lift the title with a comfortable victory over the Maldives in the final.

Playing in front of the home crowd, Nepal dominated the early exchanges to open up a 4-0 lead in the opening set. The Asian Volleyball Confederation Central Zone champions then wasted little time to wrap the opening set 25-9.

Making an identical start to the second set, Nepal took a 4-0 lead before committing an unforced error. They went on to win the set 25-9. Open spiker Usha Bhandari and middle blocker Hira KC made their international debut when they were brought on in the second set.

Bangladesh showed fighting intent in the third set, matching Nepal at 9-9. But they failed to keep up the momentum as Nepal won eight points in succession for a 17-9 lead and won the set 25-11.

Despite a comfortable win, coach Bhatta was quick to spot some room for improvement in his side—unforced errors. “We made a string of errors. We need to address those things as we take on stronger opponents,” Bhatta said.

Aruna Shahi, leading the Team Nepal’s mantle for the first time at home, said: “Playing at home obviously gets us excited, but it also brought on more pressure on the players. We are taking that on our stride, though.”

Bangladesh head coach Golam Rasul Mehedi lamented his team’s inexperience for their defeat.

“Nepal are a very good team and playing against them in their backyard is always going to be difficult,” he said. “We will try to improve in the remaining matches.”

Nepal next play India, the other team in Group ‘A’, on Thursday.

In Group ‘B’, Maldives did not have to break a sweat as they had a walkover over Pakistan after the latter withdrew from the tournament. Sri Lanka are the other team in Group ‘B’.

Meanwhile, in the men’s category, Nepal lost to Bangladesh in a five-set thriller. Despite taking the first set 25-21, Nepal made five service errors and lost the momentum to concede the second at 23-25.

The hosts, however, made a strong comeback to take the third set 25-19. But Bangladesh fought back the next set 24-26 to tie the match at 2-2. The visitors held their nerves in the deciding final set to edge the hosts 15-12. Nepal take on India in another Group ‘A’ match on Friday.