By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Defending champions Armed Police Club has decided not to compete in the Sagarmatha Cement Prime Minister Cup Invitational Women’s Volleyball Championship which is scheduled to kick off in Nepalgunj this week.
The eighth edition of the PM Cup will begin at the Covered Hall of Nepalgunj on Thursday.
APF volleyball team’s manager Bijay KC informed that the club decided not to compete in this year’s event as their star player is in injury layoff while other crucial players of the team are also busy in internal training of the Armed Police Force.
APF is the most successful team in the PM Cup having won the title three times.
Saraswati Chaudhary, who is the most important player of the team, will stay out of the court for nine months following a knee surgery about two months ago.
Chaudhary had sustained injury during the final match of AVC Central Zone Championship held in Bangladesh this winter.
Upon her return from Bangladesh, she had also participated in the Tiger Top Cup Volleyball Championship held in Pokhara which further aggravated her injury due to which she had to undergo surgery on January 31.
Likewise, another crucial player of the team Usha Kumari Bista, who plays the role of middle blocker, is also out due to injury sustained in the Tiger Top Cup. She hasn’t been included in the team ever since her injury during this winter. Another vital member of the team Niruta Thagunna is also recuperating from her injury and is not fully fit to play.
All the tournaments in which APF featured recently in the absence of these key players turned out to be disaster for the club that has been winning most of the titles and has dominated the domestic volleyball. APF finished fourth in those tournaments. Those were the worst performance of APF in the last one decade.
The PM Cup will be held in Nepalgunj from March 24 to 28.
There were five teams during the last edition but the organisers have not informed anything about the number of participants this year.
