New Diamond had defeated the same opponent twice in the previous two finals at Lamachaur.In the evenly-contested final, New Diamond claimed the first set 25-23, but went down 19-25 in the second set. However, New Diamond, which had dominated APF in previous encounters, took the third set 25-23, but again failed to keep the same momentum in the fourth set as APF won it 22-25 to level the match 2-2.
However, New Diamond once again proved to be best team of the tournament winning the deciding set 15-10.
Pratibha Mali, who played a major role for New Diamond to win the title for the third time, was adjudged the best player of the tournament.
"We made hat-trick as our players played collectively with team spirit," said New Diamond coach Kumar Rai.
Meanwhile, Tribhuvan Army beat Western Region 3-2 in the third-place playoff match.
The champion New Diamond received a purse of Rs 50,100, while runner-up APF got Rs 30,100. Similarly, third and fourth place finishers Army and Western received Rs 15,100 and Rs 10,100 respectively.
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