Defending champions Iran will face Kazakhstan in the final for the title. The two teams also met in the league stage, where Iran emerged victorious in straight sets.
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Iran has reached the final of the Kava Women's Volleyball Championship for the second consecutive year. Iran defeated home team Nepal 3-0 in straight sets in the second semi-final on Thursday at the Rakhep Covered Hall in Tripureshwor.
The defending champions Iran will play Kazakhstan in the final for the title. The two teams had also met in the league stage, where Iran was successful in straight sets.
Iran won the title by defeating host Uzbekistan in straight sets in Tashkent last year. Before that, Nepal had defeated Iran in the first edition of this modified format held in Kathmandu in 2024 to reach the final.
On the home court, Nepal's young players put up some resistance against Iran in the first set, but easily surrendered the next two sets. Nepal, which lost the first set 25-20, then surrendered the set to Iran 25-15, 25-11, and the team's final journey ended.
Nepal, led by Niruta Thagunna, will now play against India for third place on Friday. Nepal lost to India 3-2 in a competitive match in the league stage.
Nepal coach Jagdish Bhatt said that Iran is a top-level team and that although they did not get the expected points, there is no room for fault in the performance of his young players. He said about the game, ‘Many of our players have made their debut in this tournament, they are players who have played dozens of international matches. Iran’s level is in the top six in Asia. That makes a big difference. However, we did not think that we would lose like this. Our weak reception caused problems in attacking. Overall, we had technical problems. That allowed them to dominate.’
Coach Bhatt said that they will qualify for the Asia Cup by defeating India. With Iran and Kazakhstan already qualified, the team that finishes third in this tournament will now qualify for the Asia Cup. Bhatt claimed that Nepal's only goal was that.
India, the champion of the first edition, was also defeated by Kazakhstan in straight sets in the first semi-final on Thursday. Kazakhstan, led by Natalya Khazova, won the set 25-21, 25-17, 25-14 to secure the final.
Kazakhstan and Bangladesh are participating for the first time in this edition, which is attended by eight member nations of the Central Asian Volleyball Association.
