Nepal’s tourism capital Pokhara is getting ready for the most-awaited sports event i.e. 13^th South Asian Games.

The event to be held during December 1-10, 2019 will see a total of 662 athletes from South Asian nations competing in 8 different games.

Out of the total 27 games, 8 are scheduled to be held in Pokhara. Paragliding did not make its way due to a lack of registrations from other participating nations other than Nepal.

[LIVE UPDATES:  13th South Asian Games: Sports Events and Highlights]

In total, 401 females and 261 males from SAARC countries will be playing in 8 games, says Keshab Pathak, coordinator of SAG Pokhara Publicity Department, and a total of 172 officials are scheduled to be part of the sports event.

Maldives opted out of archery, weight lighting and triathlon events and has fielded 61 female, 26 male and 29 officials for 8 games in Pokhara. While India is participating in all except archery and cricket.

Bangladesh is participating in six games and has opted out of women football and triathlon events. Pakistan will be seen in five events other than women football, women cricket and triathlon.

Sri Lanka is expected in all the eight games, while Bhutan opted out of handball, women football, beach volleyball and triathlon.

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Watch Video – 13th South Asian Games in Nepal

13^th South Asian Games Tickets Online!

Eagerly waiting for the most exciting sports events of the South Asian Games 2019, then hurry up to secure your spot at the stadiums.

The tickets are available online in eSewa portal: sag.esewa.com.np

One can book online and take a print of their ticket to get it verified in real-time at the venue.

Those holding eSewa account can purchase directly online, while others can visit nearby eSewa centers in various parts of the Kathmandu Valley.

Meanwhile, advanced booking is available for Pokhara matches starting November 29, 2019 for the 8 games to be held in the city.

The tickets are priced in the ranges of NPR 100, NPR 200 and NPR 500 for different categories.

While Dasarath Stadium has got 15,900 capacity, only 14,000 tickets are being sold for management purposes, informed National Sports Council Member Secretary Ramesh Kumar Silwal.

While, Pokhara’s football stadium capacity has been increased from 10,000 to 13,000.

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Tight Security Arrangements

Nepal has planned tight security arrangements for the 13^th South Asian Games. SAG committee led by Sarvendra Khanal announced odd-even vehicular movement, special task forces, command posts and more part of security for SAG 2019.

“It is a matter of national pride. Security will be of paramount importance. Things as simple as no blowing horns to designated parking and media management will be handled efficiently for smooth regulation of event,” he said in a statement.

Special vehicles and security have been arranged to carry players to the venues. The odd-even rule will apply on the opening and closing days of the sports event.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Traffic Division is planning its way to control sounds and disturbance caused by vehicles during the event days.

The routes from Kalimati to Thapathali will be operated one-way and vehicles are allowed only from Shahid Gate to Tripureshwor during the events.

For visitors’ joy, Nepalaya is planning a picnic experience around the TU grounds with food and other stalls.

Gov. Hints Rise in Cash Rewards

The Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the government is going to implement sports-oriented policies in the federal structure.

While #SAG2019 is just 4 days to go, the Minister said the cabinet is yet to make a concrete decision on prize money for winning athletes.

He, however, hinted that there would definitely be a sizeable increment in revenues compared to previous editions.

 “Play for the country and medals, there will be sizeable increment in the prize money that government had provided in previous editions. Sports is a great medium to unite nations,” Khatiwada said in a statement.

“Players need to prepare well without being bothered about the rewards or the opposition. Athletes should be stubborn to win medals. Everything else will fall in place,” Nepal Olympic Committee president Jeevan Ram Shrestha said.

Previous versions of the sports event saw the Nepal Government’s cash prizes at Rs 300,000, 200,000 and 100,000 for the top three winners across multi-national prestigious tournaments.

An Encouragement to Media

In a move encouraging media for wide coverage of the SAG 2019, the government said it’s lifting the ban on video recording of SAG events.

“We understand media’s role in making an event and players commercially viable. Hence, we fall back from our previous stance to not allow video recording during the SAG. We look for enormous help from media fraternity to make the events as successful as possible,” said Shrestha.

However, the Nepali media, especially TV and internet, will be able to report only a minute of feed and live streaming is prohibited.

The Olympic Committee had banned the access to Nepali media and sold broadcasting rights to an Indian private media NK Media Ventures Pvt Ltd.

Eight Games in Pokhara

• Badminton – Badminton Covered Hall – December 1
• Women cricket – Pokhara Stadium – December 2
• Archery and triathlon – December 2
• Men’s and women’s handball, beach volleyball, weightlifting and women football from December 5
• Beach volleyball – Beach Volleyball Court – Barahighat
• Weightlifting – KC Catering Hall – Matepaani.
• Football – Gauri Shankar Playground – Geste Ghat Lamachaur of Pokhara-25
• Football Practice Matches – Nepal Army’s Western Division Camp at Bijayapur
• Cricket Practice Matches – Town Development Training Center Ground.

Host country Nepal will be seen in all the games comprising of 52 males, 102 females and 30 officials.

Official Mascot of 13th SAG 2019

Participating Nations

• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• India
• Maldives
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Sri Lanka

List of Sports – 2019 13th South Asian Games (SAG)

Sports  Venue – 2019 13th South Asian Games (SAG)

13th South Asian Games (SAG) Schedule

President Bidya Devi Bhandari is set to inaugurate the event in Kathmandu on December 01, 2019.

Prime Minister KP Oli, Head of State of the participating countries and foreign diplomats, among others will join the inaugural event. The event will see different special shows on Nepali art and culture.

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Nepal displays great enthusiasm when it comes to sports, and more so with handball. The game is seeing an active participation of not only men but also women.

Handball History

Though modern handball saw its inception towards the end of the 19^th century, field handball was first played around the beginning of the century and was introduced by G. Wallstrom in 1910 in Sweden.

The introduction of handball can be contributed to ancient Roman and Greek civilizations. Evidence has it that ancient Roman women used to play a version of handball called Expulism Ludere.  Towards the 19^th century, most of the European nations played similar versions of the game. They were recognized with the names håndbold in Denmark, házená in the Czech Republic, handbol in Ukraine and torball in Germany.

The game that we know of today was introduced in the northern states of Europe, mainly, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

The first international handball game was played between the men players of Germany and Belgium in 1925 with the modern set of rules. Later on, in 1930, the world witnessed the first women’s international handball match between Germany and Austria.

Formation of the World Handball Association

The International Handball Federation (IHF) came into inception since 1946 and has been the governing body of the game since then. The IHF organized championships every four years since the World War II until 1995. But, since the championship in Iceland during that year, the competition is held every 2 years.

How Handball is Played

Handball can be played both indoors and outdoors. Though the sport is played usually indoors, outdoor handball is played more fervently in the form of field handball, Czech handball and beach handball. The sport is played on a court of 40m X 20m (131ft x 66ft) and has a goal on either side. Two teams consisting 7 players each pass a ball around with their hands or with their heads. The aim of the game is to throw the ball into the goal of the opponent.

With two 30-minute periods, the players of both parties are given chance to make as many goals within the given time. The team that makes the most goals wins the game. Usually, professional teams hit anywhere between 25 and 30 goals.

Handball Initiatives in Nepal

After football and cricket, handball is fast becoming a favorite of Nepal. The Nepal Handball Association (NHA), event organizers for the matches at Pokhara in January joined the IHF in 1984 and are working hard since then to promote the game in Nepal.

Ahead of the event, Tej Bahadur Gurung, Chairperson at the Nepal Handball Association expressed his desire of promoting handball in Nepal. He said that there was a huge potential for handball in the Himalayan nation and hoped that Nepal could win medals in international handball tournaments. Pokhara was identified as the key center for sports by Rajan KC, Nepal’s Minister for Youth and Sports.

Tej Bahadur Gurung identified the event as another brick in the wall for making handball an even more recognized sport in Nepal. He was quoted saying, “The event was a big success and we have a strong conviction that this event is yet another brick in the wall of making handball more popular in Nepal.”

As part of its initiatives, the IHF had sent lecturers to Nepal amongst Toho and Pakistan with the aim to conduct Handball@School courses. IHF lecturer, Juhasz Istvan was sent to Dolakha in Nepal between 12 and 25 November 2016. The program saw the participation of 40 teachers apart from 30 other participants that included coaches and former national players.

The power-packed course had a curriculum of theoretical sessions and practical sessions, with the former being scheduled for the morning while the later for afternoon.

Istvan was overwhelmed with the response the course received. He was moved with the commitment and know-how, of the local experts. Istvan was promised by many teachers that they would start teaching handball in their schools.

The IHF lecturer expressed his gratitude by saying, “I am very grateful to have had the chance to teach handball in Nepal. I feel confident I could help them”.

The most recent achievements in handball in the year 2018:

• Nepal’s Women’s Handball Team becoming runners-up of the 5^th South Asian Handball Championship in Lucknow on April 4th.
• Nepal lost to India at 24-5 in the final match but had been successful in beating other powerful competitors Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan to reach the finals.
• Earlier in January, the city of Pokhara hosted the 9^th Women’s National Handball Championship and the 18^th Men’s Nepalese National Handball Championship.
• The 4-day field-handball competition witnessed a women’s match between the Armed Police Force and the Nepal Army. The former won the match leaving the Nepal Army at second place.
• In the Men’s competition, the Western Region team beat the Nepal Army and walked its way to victory. The winning team was awarded a trophy and cash prizes to take up more and more handball programs.

Hope for the Future

With multiple initiatives already being implemented, Nepal is been seen as a hub of huge potential for handball. With the help of the IFH and NHA, players from Nepal will constantly be motivated to bring home more and more laurels.

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