Niruta Thagunna Appointed New Captain of Nepal Women’s National Volleyball Team

Niruta Thagunna has been selected as the new captain of the Nepal Women’s National Volleyball Team. The 69th executive committee meeting of the Nepal Volleyball Association officially announced Niruta as the team captain. She will lead Nepal in the upcoming Kavha Women’s Volleyball Championship starting from Jestha 8.

The 28-year-old Niruta plays domestic volleyball for the Nepal APF Club. She also brings captaincy experience from franchise volleyball, having served as the captain of Madhesh United for two consecutive seasons in the Everest Women’s Volleyball League. Niruta made her national team debut in 2019 at the AVC Asian Women Central Zone Championship held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where she won a gold medal in her first tournament.

The previous captain, Aruna Shahi, was in Australia and therefore was not included in the closed training camp of 20 players called by the Nepal Volleyball Association for the Kavha Women’s Volleyball Championship. This opened the way for a new captain to be appointed. Since 2019, Niruta has been a key contributor in continuing the golden journey of the Nepal women’s volleyball team. She has helped the national team secure one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal during her tenure.

Originally from Darchula, Niruta moved to Kathmandu and began playing volleyball with the Tribhuvan Army Club. Although she was interested in various sports during school, she initially did not have a special passion for volleyball. However, she was inspired to pursue the sport following encouragement from player Nil Awasthi. After being selected for the district-level Presidential Running Shield in 2072 BS and completing her SLC exams the same year, she started competing at the provincial level in volleyball.