Sri Lanka continues forward march

Deepthi Romesh the Sri Lankan skipper (in blue) dashes the ball against Nepal in their match played yesterday

CAVA Volleyball Tournament

By Althaf Nawaz 

Sri Lanka marched through to notch up their second consecutive victory over Nepal by 3 sets to nil at the Central Asian Men›s Volleyball Challenge Cup (CAVA) Tournament at Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium yesterday. 

After their triumph against Saudi Arabia in the curtain raiser, the defending champions proved their superiority with an emphatic win, where their rivals were deprived of winning a single set.

Lankan skipper Deepthi Romesh and his teammate Mahela Indeewera occupying the high pass position, were the cynosure of all eyes due to their outstanding performance and were eventually instrumental in making most of the scoring. 

On the other hand, Nepal who defeated last year’s runner-up Bangladesh in their curtain raiser, ran out of options amidst the Lankan firepower. They fought hard in the first set losing 24-25 but lost control in the next two sets losing 25-18 and 25-16.

In the earlier game, Uzbekistan recorded their maiden win with a 3-sets to nil victory over Saudi Arabia. After going 2-3 in their tournament opener against Afghanistan, Uzbekistan looked an organised side and played according to a well-executed plan. They scored 25-21, 25-19 and 25-23 in the three sets respectively.

Meanwhile, in the other game, Afghanistan bagged their second win against Bangladesh with 3 sets to nil. After a close tussle, with a narrow 3-2 win against Uzbekistan in their tournament opener, Afghan lads dominated play to seal the game with a convincing win. The scorecard read 25-15, 25-19, 25-12.