Two-time defending champions Nepal are off to a flying start in their title defence of CAVA Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup defeating Kyrgyzstan in straight sets in their group match at the NSC covered hall on Monday.

The home team, playing their first international match after 2021, pulled off a comfortable 25-11, 25-19, 25-11 win over Kyrgyzstan. Giving debuts to Sangam Mahato and Rima Kunwar, the home team came up with better show in spikes, defence and setting.

The tournament, previously known as AVC Central Zone Women’s Volleyball Championship, has now been rebranded as CAVA Challenge Cup. Nepal, drawn in Group ‘A’, will play their second match against Bangladesh on Tuesday before wrapping up the group stage against India on Wednesday.

Nepal, studded with six new faces in the 14-member squad, led the first set from the beginning and were leading 6-3 early on. The home side conceded the first three points due to serve errors. They earned five consecutive points from 8-7 to take a comfortable lead of 13-7 and again added eight consecutive points in the latter stage from 17-11 to win the first set.

Nepal also dominated the second set from the start, taking 5-1 lead at the early stage before Kyrgyzstan closed the gap and were 7-6 at a moment. However, the home team managed to widen the gap from the moment and held at least three points lead throughout the match before claiming the second set.

Kyrgyzstan gave a tough challenge early on in the third set and took the lead for the first time in the match with a score of 6-4 at a moment. But Nepal earned 11 points in a row after that as the score read 15-6 before wrapping up 25-11.

“It was our first international game after a long time,” Nepal’s captain Aruna Shahi said referring to Asian Central Zone Volleyball in December 2021 in Dhaka. “It was difficult in the beginning because there are many new faces in the team but the debutants played well.” Shahi added that such a performance would not be sufficient to beat India in their last group match.

The top two finishers of each group progress into the semi-final.

Nepal’s Belgian coach Jan De Brandt expressed satisfaction with the outcome but pointed out flaws on serve and receive. “It is good to win the first match in 3-0 sets. We need to improve on our serve and receive,” said the Belgian. “India is the toughest team in the group and they also have a physical advantage over us. We need to change our strategy against them.”

Nepal played without their influential player Saraswati Chaudhary after she picked leg injury during a training session on Sunday and is expected to be back in action against India on Wednesday, according to captain Shahi.

Earlier, the first game of Group ‘A’ saw India edge Bangladesh in a dominant fashion pulling off a 25-3-25-9, 25-6 victory.

In the group ‘B’ game, Uzbekistan saw off Sri Lanka in straight sets of 27-25, 25-20, 25-14 while Kazakhstan grabbed a 25-16, 25-14, 25-6 victory over Maldives.