Nepal Youth and Sports Minister Jagat Bahadur Bishwakarma laid the foundation for a 18,500-capacitive multi-purpose stadium in Pokhara on March 10, 2019.

The construction of the stadium began two months back and is expected to be completed on time before the commencement of South Asian Games (SAG) 2019. #SAG2019

“We have the responsibility to host South Asian Games (SAG), which is a matter of our national prestige. I am sure that construction will be completed on time,” says the Minister.

Bishwakarma further informed that the stadium is being constructed with the state-of-the-art facilities and would help in promoting Pokhara for ‘sports tourism’ in Nepal.

“We need to make sure that the master plan meets latest standards. Even if it takes 10-15 years to complete, the stadium needs to meet all the requirements of the international arena,” says National Sports Council Keshav Kumar Bista.

Bista confirmed that the football ground construction will be completed within the set deadlines to host SAG 2019.

“The stadium with 18,500 seats will be Nepal’s biggest and most advanced sports facility. It can be expanded to 30,000 seats in future,” Bista adds.

To facilitate SAG 2019, special sports halls for Archery and lawn tennis courts are also being constructed. However, the construction of cricket ground, tracks, hall for Martial Arts, swimming pool and other facilities are yet to begin.

For the first time in Nepal’s history, the construction authority is using steel modular system for building the new stadium and is importing material from France and Germany.

“Every association and council should help on their parts to complete this project, which will help establish Pokhara and the entire Gandaki province as a center of sports tourism in future. Sports lovers should press concerned officials for timely completion of the project,” read an official statement.

Multi-purpose hall is being constructed at an investment of NPR 150 million, Archery Arena with NPR 20 million, Tennis hard court, clay court and changing room along with parapet with NPR 25 million, Badminton-covered hall with NPR Rs 35 million, Volleyball training area with NPR 12.5 million and a Handball ground with Rs 1 million investment.

The stadium is being built at a total cost of NPR 1.3 billion.

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Nepali women’s handball team won the maiden international medal at the runner’s up position in the championship that concluded in Lucknow on April 3, 2018.

Though the Nepali team got the global-level recognition, it lost out the match to the Indian handball team for 24-5 score. According to Nepal Handball Association, this is the maiden international medal for the Nepali women’s handball team.

This round robin championship was played among five countries including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Nepal.

While India won all the four matches to stand as the champion, the Nepali team won over Bangladesh (26-17), Afghanistan (23-4) and Bhutan (28-4) in the earlier matches, and Bangladesh bagged only two victories.

The Nepali team comprises of Skipper Uma Rai, Aita Lhamu Sherpa, Parbati Chaudhary, Kabita Rai, Jina Rai and Nisha Rai, among others, while Ramesh Sapkota and Arun Lal Karna are the coaches.

Runner Up Nepal

Matches held in Bangladesh gave a different turn to the championship ending in mixed results for the teams.

While the Bangladeshi women’s handball team won over Afghan team by 35-9 goals in the Day-1 match, the team lost it out to the Nepali team by 17-26 score, which moved up Nepal’s position.

Also Read:

• Nepal’s Growing Enthusiasm for Handball
• Football for Friendship: FIFA Partner Launches Special Football Program for Nepali Youth
• Nepal Scripts History, Secures ODI Status

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Pratima Sherpa (18), a girl born to a couple working in the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) course next to the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, never thought that she would become Nepal’s top-rated female golf player.

Sounds That Resonated

                        Pratima Sherpa with her parents

Aspiring to become Nepal’s first female professional golfer, Pratima recalls her rejoicing moments in her early days where she used to feel refreshed listening to the sounds of golf balls hit by golfers at the club.

In fact, Pratima’s passion for golf sport stemmed out during her family’s stay at the golf course with lawnmowers as part of their employment and has moved her further to take up the sport properly from the age of 11 years.

Whereas, roots for her passion actually lies in the typical Nepali rural outdoor game Dandi Biyo, played by hitting a 6-inch long wooden pin (Biyo) into the air with a wooden stick (Dandi) and strike it again before other players catch it, which she played in her childhood.

Dandi Biyo has been Nepal’s unofficial national sport until Volleyball was declared officially on May 23, 2017.

Talent Finds Recognition

    Pratima Sherpa earns wide recognition

Pratima’s talent got due recognition from one of the coaches when she was learning the sport through juniors’ program run by the club.

The coach joined Pratima under his own wing for free and further appointed a member who introduced her to a set of old clubs.

Pratima continued her practice and eventually crossed various challenges that got her around 40 trophies, so far. But, she never relaxed and practices for at least two hours a day.

“Nepal is a smaller country than most, and playing golf can be difficult for poor families like ours. But I’ve got a big opportunity to play golf, and feel very proud and lucky that I’ve got that chance. I want to become a great golfer,” says Pratima.

From Kathmandu to Further Heights

Despite holding such a talent, Pratima had to struggle a lot for getting a passport to fly abroad to present her skill in the global arena.

Even though an American member of the club offered to adopt, Pratima never thought of leaving her parents.

Finally, with the help of her relations, she could get the passport and has recently travelled to the United States, where she stayed six weeks experiencing golf for the first time outside Nepal.

                          Pratima Sherpa (File Picture)

After being hosted by a Nepali software engineer, Pratima competed in five regional tournaments in California winning one of them and made it at top-6 in the two other matches.

A Hong Kong based sponsorship is also in offing for Pratima currently, which requires her to return to States and pursue golf classes at the California’s Santa Barbara City College.

Pratima, currently playing off a five golf handicap, loves to play for the Faldo Series China Championship, the tournament that hosted renowned Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy and  Taiwanese golfer Yani Tseng.

“It’s really wonderful to see that the whole of Nepal has got excited about Pratima. They’re so proud of her and so supportive. She’s an amazing spokesperson, an amazing icon for Nepali golf and more generally for Nepal and Nepali women,” says Oliver Horovitz, a journalist, author and a golf caddy, who met Pratima at RNGC.

For the Country

Keeping aside key challenges in personal life (caring for family) and career passion, Pratima loves and finds her ability to balance both in a proper way.

In the process, she is also pursuing a four-year business studies course at Thames International College of Kathmandu.

“I can’t say how far my golf career will go. Ultimately, I want to become Nepal’s first female professional golfer,” says Pratima.

“Royal family is gone, we have a new government and there are more opportunities for women. There’s a Nepali proverb, Fruits of labor are always sweet, so now I’ve been given the opportunity to play golf I am going to try my hardest,” reads her latest statement.

Public supporters of Pratima have started www.teampratima.com to raise donations favoring Pratima’s career. This clearly shows the level of love and support Pratima has gained from Nepali society for her sincere efforts.

Pratima always wishes to give back to her nation.

“I want to develop golf in Nepal. I will give back to the Nepali golf community and will help underprivileged children enjoy the sport as I have,” she adds.

“Any competitive golfer that wants to be on the world stage is working hard. Not all of them have that joy for every single shot they hit. I thought that was a pretty striking difference from Pratima and other young players. She has an amazing opportunity to really influence a ton of kids over in Kathmandu. She’s inspiring a generation of kids over there,” says a renowned US’ Golf Coach Don Parsons.

 Golf in Nepal In Brief

Golf in Nepal took its actual form in 1917 when the then prime minister of the country introduced golf clubs following his Scotland trip and had also set up a basic course. However, the sport remained limited to the then Nepali elite families and expatriates for long until RNGC came up in 1965.

Apart from RNGC, which has 9 golf holes, Nepal has three other golf courses in the Kathmandu Valley (Gokarna Golf Course), Pokhara and Dharan.

Nepal’s golf community fear RNGC might get affected if the Government of Nepal’s supposed plans to expanding TIA are implemented.

Overall, Nepal has a total of four golf courses in contrast to hundreds of registered golf players.

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