Kathmandu, Sept. 3 : The team members of paragliding and its officials have been prized for bagging a Silver Medal for Nepal in the 18th Asian Games held in Indonesia. In the 18th Asian, Nepal won the silver medal after two decades of gap in the cross country event of men’s paragliding.
Bimal Adhikari, Bijay Gautam, Yukesh Gurung, Sushil Gurung, Bishal Thapa and chief coach Yogesh Bhattarai and assistant coach Sanu Babu Shrestha were honoured at a programme organized by National Sports Council (NSC) in the capital city on Monday.
Minister for Youth and Sports Jagat Bahadur Bishwakarma, Member Secretary of NSC Keshav Kumar Bista and Chairman of Nepal Olympic Committee Jiban Ram Shrestha prized the players with Rs 500,000 each. Likewise, sports association was provided with Rs 500,000 while chief coach was given away Rs 300,000 and assistant coach Rs 150,000 in cash and letter of appreciation.
Likewise, Nepal Paragliding and Hand Gliding Associations were given equal Rs 500,000 and sports manager Shailesh Raut was honoured with a letter of appreciation.
On the occasion, women sportsperson standing sixth in paragliding under women’s category were given the token of love. A total of 185 sportspersons took part in 29 games in Asiad from Nepal.
During the programme, Minister Bishwakarma criticized for Nepal’s failure to win medals in the expected sports and sought for serious review. Minister Bishwakarma added that development of the sports sector was needed to establish the nation’s identity in the international level.
Likewise, Member Secretary of NSC Bista admitted that more sportspersons were sent in the Asian Games compared to Nepal’s geography adding that more sportspersons were also sent to Asiad as a part of preparation of the South Asian Games (SAG) to be held in Nepal.
Bista shared that Nepal is going to organize World Championship of paragliding in Pokhara in this November.
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