The MNDF (Maldives National Defence Force) club has won the National Volleyball Tournament trophy for the President’s Challenge Cup for the first time. In the final match of this tournament, MNDF defeated the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) club in straight three sets, marking their third tournament victory this season. This record was first established by the team in 2010. The final match, played at the indoor court of the Youth Center, showcased competitive and intense gameplay from both teams, with the match starting evenly balanced.
The MNDF team took the lead in the latter part of the first set, winning it 25-21, thanks to numerous points scored through blocks. The game-changer for this match was the MNDF team’s Indian player, Chirag. He joined the MNDF team for the national tournament, replacing Hamad from Pakistan, who had played for MNDF in the first two tournaments of the season but was injured. With Chirag’s excellent performance, the MNDF team dominated and easily won the second set 25-14. HDC struggled to perform well in this set, and their defense made many errors.
After losing the first set, HDC faced a significant challenge in regaining confidence for the third set. However, the third set turned out to be very competitive. Nevertheless, MNDF maintained the lead throughout the set. Although HDC managed to equalize the score towards the end, MNDF won the set 26-24 after an intense battle. Chirag from the MNDF team was chosen as the best player of the final match. He was also included among the best foreign players of the tournament. Additionally, Luis from the MNDF team and Giraldo from HDC were also recognized.
The best local players of the tournament were Captain Hussain Shahid and Hussain Razan from the MNDF team, and Ismail Sajid from HDC. The best coach of the tournament was Junaid Abdullah from the MNDF team.
