KATHMANDU: The Nepali national volleyball team entered the Central Asia Volleyball Association (CAVA) Women’s Volleyball Championship facing a severe roster crisis. Head coach Jagdish Bhatta was left to rebuild the squad after a staggering six marquee players, including longtime, historic captain Aruna Shahi, abruptly migrated to Australia right before the tournament.

Despite these destabilizing exits, the rebuilt squad has defied expectations to secure a spot in the semifinals. After dropping a grueling 3-2 opening match to regional powerhouse India, Nepal engineered a dominant tournament comeback. The team routed Kyrgyzstan 3-0 in straight sets, followed by another flawless 3-0 sweep against the Maldives on Sunday, booking their ticket to the final four and injecting immense momentum into their championship campaign.

“Even in the World Cup, there are examples of big teams lifting the title after losing to smaller ones. Moreover, a lack of experience was seen in our team’s first match. Now the gameplay is coming together. Now, we can challenge any opponent and lift the title,” Bhatta says.

Debut of six players

Shahi is considered one of the most successful captains in Nepali women’s volleyball history. After regular captain Binita Budhathoki remained out of the national team, the Nepal Volleyball Association gave the responsibility of captaincy to setter Aruna Shahi on October 15, 2019. Since then, the Nepali team achieved remarkable success under her leadership.

Under her captaincy, Nepal won the gold medal in the AVC Asian Central Zone Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship in 2019 and 2021 and clinched the silver medal in the thirteenth South Asian Games (SAG) held in Nepal in 2019 itself. Following that, the team’s journey of success continued.

Nepal won the bronze medal in the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup organized on the home court in 2023, and the team further elevated its level by winning the silver medal in the 2024 CAVA Nations League.

However, Aruna, who brought so many achievements to the Nepali team, made the decision to go to Australia as the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Championship approached, without even formally informing the association. Not only Aruna, but along with her, hitter Saraswati Chaudhary, outside hitter Punam Chand, blockers Kabita Bhatta and Safiya Pun, and rising player Manisha Chaudhary, who all played in the CAVA Women’s Nations League, also flew to Australia this year.

Pragati Nath (left) and Niruta Thagunna (right)

The exit of these key players was bound to affect the balance of the Nepali team. Therefore, recently, building a new and strong team had become challenging for the Nepal Volleyball Association. Keeping this situation in mind, the association tried to recall open spiker Pratibha Mali, who had been out of the national team for a long time. However, Mali, who was also in Australia, informed that she would not be able to participate in the tournament. At such a time, head coach Bhatta gave opportunities to players like Salina Budhamagar, Alisa Manandhar, Basanti Saud, Jasna Mahato, Sunita Khatri, and Mina Sunuwar.

“A lack of experience will obviously happen. However, these players had already played many international and domestic tournaments in the junior team. We took those into the team who had the mindset that they could win even in the absence of the senior players,” he says. In the team, along with captain Niruta Thagunna and Usha Bhandari, middle blocker Sumitra Regmi, liberos Salina Shrestha and Shantikala Tamang, spikers Kamana Bista, and setter Pragati Nath are the only experienced players. However, they too had not received opportunities to play many matches.

In such a situation, the main challenge for Bhatta was the middle blocker position. While Kabita and Safiya exited, Sangam Mahato got injured. Therefore, the responsibility of stopping the opponent’s spikes fell solely on Sumitra. However, Basanti, Sunita, and Alisa were added to support her, who possesses good reach and height. Except for Sumitra, the other players made their debuts through this very tournament. Apart from these, outside hitters Salina and Mina Sunar and setter Jasna also got the opportunity to debut.

Pragati Nath

Furthermore, in the match against Sri Lanka, which had to be won 3-0 in straight sets to reach the semifinals, coach Bhatta gave an opportunity to all players except Salina.

Eyes on the finals

Now, Nepal’s target will be to secure a journey to the finals. For that, it will compete against the defending champion Iran on Thursday at around 5 PM. Iran won the title by defeating Uzbekistan 3-0 in sets in the final of the previous edition. However, Nepal and India did not participate in that edition.

Iran is not an unfamiliar opponent for Nepal. In the CAVA Nations League organized in 2024, these two teams faced each other in the league stage itself. In that tournament, Nepal made an impressive start by defeating Sri Lanka 3-0 in straight sets in the opening match. In the second match, Nepal secured a place in the semifinals by pulling off a thrilling 3-2 victory over India.

However, in the third match, Nepal failed to perform as expected and was defeated 3-2 by Iran. After that, in the final match of the league stage, Nepal, which gave opportunities to second-choice players, defeated Maldives, which exited the tournament without any points, in straight sets, 3-0. In that tournament where only five teams participated, CAVA designed a format to play the semifinals between the top team of the league stage and the fourth-place team, and the second-place team with the third-place team.

Iran, which accumulated seven points in the league stage, became the semifinal opponent for Nepal, while Nepal clinched the top position with nine points. In that semifinal, Nepal made it to the finals by defeating the Iranian team, which comprised junior players, in a competitive 3-2 set. With that defeat, Iran was limited to third place.

But this time, the Iranian team appears much stronger compared to the previous edition. Iran became the winner of Group ‘B’ with nine points by defeating Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh by identical 3-0 sets in this tournament. Notably, Iran has not lost a single set in the ongoing tournament so far.

Coach Jagdish Bhatta

On the other side, Nepal secured its journey to the semifinals as the runner-up of Group ‘A’ with seven points. Captain Niruta Thagunna states that the old players could not play as much as they should have against India. However, she expresses confidence that they can defeat Iran this time because the team is coming together well.

“We have already played against Iran too. The team plays under pressure. We have to work very hard on blocking and defense. On the other hand, our main weapon is the service itself. We still need to improve on that,” she says.

Iran’s eye on the title

This time, Iran has come to Kathmandu not only to play the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Championship but also with the target of utilizing it as a preparation for upcoming international tournaments. The main focus of the Iranian team is centered on the AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup to be held in the Philippines from June 6 to 14.

Organized by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC), this tournament is considered one of the highest-level women’s volleyball competitions in Asia, where the strong teams of the continent compete against each other. Iran is set to participate in the AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup for the second time. Playing the tournament for the first time in 2023, Iran achieved a mixed performance back then, securing fifth place. Although Iran suffered an unexpected defeat against Hong Kong in the group stage, it showed its capability by defeating Chinese Taipei and the host team, the Philippines. Following that, Iran bowed out of the medal race after being defeated by Australia in the match for fifth place.

Iranian players after reaching the semifinals by remaining undefeated

Nevertheless, having learned a lot from that experience, the Iranian team looks much more organized and balanced this time. The team has recently improved its playing style through continuous competition at the international level. Especially in blocking, defense, and rapid attacks, Iran has made remarkable progress. For this reason, the current team appears more mature than the previous edition.

The Iranian group is not easy in this edition’s AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup either. The team will have to compete against Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Lebanon in the group stage. Most of these teams are considered established in Asian volleyball. Particularly, teams like Vietnam and Hong Kong are strong. Therefore, Iran has taken the tournament happening in Nepal ahead of the AVC Cup as an opportunity to adjust its combination, test new strategies, and boost the confidence of the players.

Consequently, Iranian player Sepinood Dastbarjan emphasized that their primary objective is to solidify team cohesion by securing a decisive victory over Nepal. While acknowledging the intense atmospheric challenges of playing in Kathmandu, she noted that the squad remains unfazed by the passionate home crowd.

“We are fully aware that the court will be packed with spectators and Nepal will enjoy massive home support,” Dastbarjan stated. “However, we are mentally prepared for that environment. Our singular target is to secure a win, and regardless of who stands across the net, we intend to deliver our absolute best performance.”