Nepali women volleyball team failed to capitalise on a promising start as they lost to India in straight sets in their second league match under the 13th South Asian Games at the Dashrath Stadium covered hall in Tripureshwor on Thursday.

Nepal, who got the better of Bangladesh in straight sets in their opening match of the tournament on Wednesday, went down 24-26, 12-25, 16-25 against their southern neighbours.

Egged on by the vociferous home crowd, Nepal found themselves in the driving seat in the first. But they wasted a couple of set points as India rallied from 22-24 down to win 26-24.

A see-saw battle saw the visitors nose ahead after a 14-14 tie. Nepal crawled back to level the scores at 15-15 and went on to open up a two-point lead at 24-22. But failed to close the game.

“Nepal were playing in front of their home crowd, we knew it was always going to take us time to settle down,” said India’s head coach Bal Chandaran. “Winning the first set by saving two set points boosted our morale and put Nepal under pressure.”

India captain Nirmal Tanwar said, “The first set was difficult for us because Nepal put on an impressive display. To be honest, we did not expect to win it.”

Speaking about the new-look Nepal side, 23-year-old Tanwar who plays for India Railways on the domestic volleyball circuit, added: “This is an improved Nepal team. They are playing better than they used to.”

Nepal head coach Jagadish Bhatta was disappointed to see his wards fail to drive home the advantage. “We had a proper plan with the best players in specific positions to seal the first set. But our strategy did not work out,” he said.

Nepal captain Aruna Shahi conceded that they paid the price for getting ahead of themselves. “We did not feel any pressure in the initial stage as we were certain of a semifinal berth. However, having two set points against India certainly got to us and it reflected in our performance as well,” Shahi said. “The composure that India displayed when they were in such a stage shows how strong they are.”

Nepal could not perform at the same level in the second and third sets as India started building a gap. The host team’s poor blocking only made life difficult as they lost the second set 25-12 and the third 25-16.

That ended Nepal’s six-match winning streak. Their last defeat was against Iran at the World Championship’s Central Zone Qualifier tournament in the Maldives on January 28, 2017.

Nepali women spikers had to wait for more than two years for their next international outing. However, the wait was worth it as they made history by winning the AVC Central Zone Senior Women’s Volleyball Tournament in Mirpur, Bangladesh earlier this month.

Despite the defeat, the Nepal head coach put on a brave face. “We will try and improve for the semifinal clash. We want to play against India in the final and avenge the defeat,” Bhattar said.

India play Bangladesh in their second Group ‘A’ match on Friday. An Indian win will see Nepal finish as the runners-up in the group and pit them against the Group ‘B’ winners in the semi-finals on Saturday. Group ‘B’ includes Sri Lanka and the Maldives after Pakistan withdrew from the tournament.