Foreign volleyball players dominated Nepal league’s inaugural season
In Nepal, foreign players won 13 of the 17 Player of the Match awards in the inaugural season of the men's Nepal Volleyball League. Annapurna Super Kings won the tournament, defeating Karnali Shivraj in the final, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The league’s standout player was 21-year-old Mongolian outside hitter Uranbayar Munkhbayar. He helped Annapurna Super Kings win the final, received the Player of the Match award three times and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Foreign players’ awards
Pakistani Kathmandu Reds outside hitter Ahmed Mustafa Khan won three more Player of the Match awards. Karnali’s Iranian opposite Alireza Abaluch, Pakistani Aimal Khan of Sagarmatha Smashers and Mongolian Enkh-Erdene Jargaltsot of Annapurna each received the award twice. Madhesh’s Indian player Jibin Sebastian was named Player of the Match once.
Among Nepali volleyball players, Karnali captain Pahal Ghatradj received the Player of the Match award three times, while Sunil Bohara of Khaptad Falcons won one more award. Nepali players also claimed two individual awards: Karnali’s Binod Bahadur Chand was named best libero, while Madhesh’s Rabin Nagarkoti was named best middle blocker.
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Experience for local players
Kathmandu Reds coach Nirpa Bahadur B. K. said foreign athletes have more experience and skills, which was evident in training and matches. At the same time, he said playing alongside foreign players could help Nepali volleyball players improve, as they had previously lacked such experience.
Six franchises competed in the league. At the auction, they purchased 42 local players for amounts ranging from 50,000 to 120,000 Nepalese rupees. The teams also selected one player each through a local talent search and recruited a total of 18 foreign players — three for each franchise.
Bimal Kumar Kedia, chairman of Kedia Group, the main organizer of the competition, said the league would continue. According to him, future seasons should become even more systematic and professional.
