The post Nepal – The Home to Exceptional Sports Talent! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>Whether it’s young & energetic Gaurika Singh or left-arm spin bowler Sandeep Lamichhane, we know why Nepal is known for what it is!
And with strong backbones like the Nepal Sports Council (NSC) and the respective sports bodies toiling hard to promote various sports in Nepal and produce the rarest of the rare, Nepal is slowly becoming Asia’s pride.
Here is a list of sports that set the Nepali hearts racing with passion and determination:
Volleyball: After the government declared Volleyball as Nepal’s National Game on May 23, 2017, there was no stopping for volleyball enthusiasts across the nation. The craze for the game only picked up and took Nepal beyond its boundaries to become one with the world.
The one thing that makes Volleyball the ‘Nation’s sport of choice’ is its easily-playable nature in any terrain. Read More
Handball: With indulgence for both men and women, the engaging sport is picking up popularity in Nepal. The Nepal Handball Association (NHA) has been striving to promote the sport in the country since its membership with the International Handball Federation in 1984. The country has made some exceptional performances in the field of handball. Nepal Women’s Handball team were runners-up for the 5th South Asian Handball Championship 2018. Read More
Cricket: If anything is loved more passionately after football in Nepal, it is cricket! And with the country winning their recent ODI status, the game is a truly loved and looked-up to sport.If the team didn’t surprise you enough, watch closely to see how effortlessly Sandeep Lamichhane beats his opponents, how under Paras Khadka’s able leadership, the country makes its ambush against the enemy and how Dipendra Singh Airee stuns the opposite team with strikingly both batting and bowling skills. Read More
Swimming: When we associate Nepal with swimming, Gaurika Singh and Shirish Gurung are the first to strike everyone’s mind.
Sharing similar spirit is the 20-year old Shirish Gurung who has 15 national records to his credit. No wonder Nepal is proud of them! Despite the lack of good facilities, the country is pushing hard to produce more stars like them. Read More
Table Tennis: The best thing about Nepal is it doesn’t treat disability the way it is, instead uses this inability to fulfill the dreams of those who wish to represent their country.Yes! Nepal’s Physical Disabled Table Tennis Association (NPDTTA) helps physically-challenged step-up and participate in tournaments both national and international.
A 2016 initiative ‘Table Tennis for NepALL’ hosted by ITTF and UNSOSDP, provided an excellent platform for differently-abled people with the aim to bring differently-abled people in society’s fold. This strongly affirms that ‘Nepal is here to stay’ in term of sports! Read More
Basketball: While Naismith took some time to set the game into action, it didn’t take Nepal that long to take up to basketball!
Nepal’s NeBA and NeWBA are the driving forces behind the game’s popularity in the country. Their zealous efforts are what takes the ‘game to the people’. Read More
Ice Hockey: While Ice Hockey is a legacy in the making, it’s still undeniable that the country is making use of whatever resources it has to promote the sport in the country.
Highly dependent on Lake Tilicho for skating and ice hockey, the country is additionally equipped with four outdoor inline hockey rinks spread across important locations in Nepal. Currently, the governing body NIHA is working hard to setup a state-of-the-art facility with assistance from the IIHF. Read More
Golf: Golf is still considered the game of the elite but Nepal is bent on proving us wrong. Nepal’s Pratima Sherpa who hails from a poor family has stunned the ‘best in the game’ with her skill and finesse.
Her age nor her background restricts her from taking up and pursuing her passion for the sport. Read More
Martial Arts: What struck for all of us a self-defense technique, became a defense mechanism for humanity in Nepal.
The Kung Fu Nuns of Nepal are proof to this. They use this art to protect the rights of the weaker communities. Be it Kung Fu, Judo or Karate, Nepal’s feat at martial arts is not something that can be hidden. With several governing bodies for each sport, we know that the country has a long way to go and a bright future in every area of martial arts. Read More
Taekwondo: Nepal’s breakthrough with Taekwondo happened in 1988 when it won its first Olympics medal. That was enough to set up a legacy that survives till date.With the introduction of this art in 1983, the Nepal government realized its importance and decided to use it for the Nepal Police and Army departments.
Today, Taekwondo is practiced even by the general public of Nepal. Read More
Football: For Nepalis, football is much more than just a sport. The country’s recent achievements at the SAFF U18 and U15, among other championships speak of Nepalese passion and growing enthusiasm for football.
Moreover, All Nepal Football Association’s (ANFA) push for skilled footballers right from the grassroot level is offering an additional boost. With increased awareness on the sport from ANFA’S Education program, the country is sure to produce more and more skilled players. No doubt! Nepal has a promising future for football sport. Read More
The Abode of Talents and Skills
Nepal never ceases to surprise the world with its gifts and talents. Even though it is just one country among the hundreds of nations, it constantly reminds us from time-to-time about its existence and its uniqueness!
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]]>The post Nepal’s Table Tennis Now International Treasure appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>Sport to Nepal is like water to fish! It is heartening to see Nepali youngsters’ passion for sports like volleyball, football, handball, cricket, swimming, and of course table tennis! And with a number of sports initiatives being taken up by the Nepal Sports Council (NSC) and Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC), the country is bound to kindle interest among youngsters.
The International Origin of Table Tennis
Table tennis, also known as Ping-Pong, was first played as ‘post-dinner pastime’, popular among the upper-class in Victorian England. During their governance in India, British military officers introduced the make-shift versions of the game in the country around 1860s and 70s.
By 1901, the sport became popular and several tournaments were being held. Books on the game were also being written. The year 1902 witnessed the first unofficial Table Tennis World Championship.
Much later in 1921, the Table Tennis Association (TTA) was founded followed by the United States Table Tennis Association (USTTA) in 1933 by the US governing body.
1926—The Year of Major Developments
TTA was renamed as the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) in 1926. This was the same year that the main governing body of the game, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) was established.
London played host for the first official World Table Tennis Championships in 1926.
The Rules of the Game
The sport is played between two or four players who must hit a ball across the table using small bats. The hard-surfaced table is divided by a net.
Table Tennis Rules are as follows:
- Players are supposed to let the ball bounce once on the table before it is served to them
- Points are gained by the player when the opponent is not able to hit the ball
The game is an engaging and requires fast-paced reactions. After the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, ITTF made some changes in the rules of the game with the aim to make table tennis more of a ‘television viewable’ sport.
Changes included:
- Replacing the 38-mm ball with a 40mm ball in October 2000
- In September 2001, the 21-point scoring system was reduced to a 11-point system
- Service rules were drastically changed in 2002
Nepal’s Affiliation to International and National Table Tennis Association (ATTU)
Nepal was one of the earliest members of the 16-member Asian Table Tennis Union formed on
May 7, 1972. Currently having 44 members, ATTU was affiliated to the ITTF as a continental body representing Asia in 1975 at the 33rd Congress, Calcutta.
All table tennis related activity is governed by Nepal Table Tennis Association (NTTA) which is associated with the NSC and NOC.
The New Age Nepali Table Tennis Stars
Shyantu Shreshta
When it comes to men’s table tennis in Nepal, the name Shyantu Shrestha rings familiar with all. The 17-year old lad with all his simplicity and passion for the game continues to win hearts at the national and international levels.
Shrestha became a big name when he defeated three-time national champion Deep Sawan and went on to play for gold. The nation realized Shrestha’s incredible potential when he defeated Shiva Sundar Gothe, an established player even before Shrestha was born, in the final match.
When Shrestha was still small, he was drawn to follow his brother Banin’s line of swimming; Banin represented Nepal at the South Asian Games (SAG) and Asian Youth Champion (AYC) for swimming.
However, his focus from swimming shifted when a friend told him that they were giving out bats for free for those playing table tennis. 🙂 Since then there was ‘no turning back’ for Shrestha.
His victory at the 7th National Games brought him face-to-face with the person who taught him the basics of the game, Nabita Shrestha. Both shared the winning stage together as they posed for a photograph, where Shrestha fondly remembered how Nabita foretold this moment they were sharing, when he first met her.
Fast forward to today, Shyantu Shreshta is preparing for his first international feat, the 2018 South Asian Games.
We hope to see the lad smash some records there!
Nepal Table Tennis Sports Video
Nabita Shreshta
Woman of substance, Nabita Shreshta has won for herself many laurels in the field of women table tennis. Her fearless performance in the court has made many opponents settle for their defeat includingher sister-in-law Alina Maharjan.
With her victory at the Huawei National Table Tennis Tournament this year, Nabita kept her winning streak unbeaten and made this tournament her seventh victory in a row. Isn’t that something to be proud about?
We hope that she continues to play undeterred and undefeated in her future tournaments too!
Because Being Unable is not a Disability!
The National Physical Disabled Table Tennis Association (NPDTTA) of Nepal is committed to supporting and encouraging physically-challenged persons to pursue their passion for Table Tennis in the country. NPDTTA is recognized by NSC and the Paralympic Committee in Nepal.
ITTF and the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNSOSDP), in 2016, started an imitative that emphasizes on the role of sports and more specifically table tennis in bringing persons with disability into the fold of the society. It launched a three-year project ‘Table Tennis for NepALL’ with the same objective and with the aim to support physically-impaired children in Nepal.
Speaking at the launch event in Nepal, Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace said, “With the Table Tennis for NepALL project, ITTF is providing a great example of how sport, in this case table tennis, can be used to facilitate the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society.”
“Table tennis is not only a question of competition, we have seen today that we can make a big difference in people’s lives using our sport for development and peace, in this case improving the conditions of children with a disability,” Lemke added.
Adding to what Lemke said, Young Sam Ma, Ambassador – Working Group on Sport and Persons with Disabilities Chair said,” For sure Table Tennis for NepALL provides hope and encouragement to them our Working Group and the Republic of Korea government will continue supporting such causes with projects on the field.”
These and many such initiatives are creating hope for Table Tennis in Nepal. We hope that these initiatives involving the Sports Authorities in Nepal come to fruition and establish Nepali players amongst the best of the best.
Also Read:
- Nepal’s Growing Enthusiasm for Handball
- Nepal — A Growing Cricket Nation
- Swimming, A High-esteem Sport for Nepal
- Naismith to Nepal—The Basketball Journey
- Nepal’s Taekwondo: Defense At its Best!
- Nepal Ice Hockey – Legacy in the Making
- Golf, Nepal’s Next Challenge to World Sports!
- Martial Arts- Nepal’s Foray into the Art of Self Defense
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