KARACHI: WAPDA retained the title when they came from behind to defeat Army 3-2 in the final of the NDURE National Volleyball Championship which concluded at Nishtar Park Sports Complex, Lahore, late Sunday night.
After losing the first set 22-25, WAPDA did well in the second set and won it with a convincing margin of 25-20. WAPDA kept the pressure up and thwarted Army’s rallies to win the third set 25-22. Army staged a fightback, winning the fourth set 25-21 to once again make the game evenly poised.
In the fifth and decisive set, both sides put in their best but WAPDA took the set 15-13 to seal a fantastic win. It was WAPDA’s fifth successive crown. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) overwhelmed Navy 3-1 to claim the third position. The set scores were 25-19, 35-33, 20-25, 25-14.
In the semi-finals, WAPDA had defeated PAF 25-20, 25-18, 25-15, while Army had edged past Navy 25-22, 25-21, 25-21. Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar gave away trophies to the leading teams. Sarwar also announced Rs200,000 for the winners, Rs100,000 for the runners-up and Rs50,000 for the third position holders.