In a series of sending players to different countries for training, a 12-member Nepali Table Tennis team is leaving for Sri Lanka on two-week training as final preparations for the South Asian Games (SAG) to be held in Colombo from August 18-28.
The Table Tennis team prior to leaving for Sri Lanka. (Photo source: THT)
Acting member secretary and vice president of the National Sports Council Sita Ram Maskey bade farewell to the team at a programme on Saturday. According to Nepal Table Tennis Association (NTTA), the team will play friendly matches against the national team of Sri Lanka before the extravaganza kicks off.
According to history provided by NTTA, Table Tennis (TT) was introduced in South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in the third SAF Games in 1987 in Calcutta and Nepal has ever since participated in the event, winning one gold, four silver and 15 bronze medals so far. Sijrin Shah and Gita Chhetri, however, are the only players so far to earn singles medals in the regional tournament. Shah claimed bronze in the third SAF while Chhetri won bronze in the fourth edition.
Nepal’s worst performance in the discipline was in the sixth SAF Games in 1993 (Bangladesh) and seventh SAF in 1995 (in Madras) where the TT players failed to win a single medal. Nepal bagged one silver medal each in men and women’s event in the ninth SAF Games as well as a bronze medal in mixed doubles. Nepal is taking part in seven events including singles events in men and women’s section, men and women’s doubles, men and women’s team event and mixed doubles.
The squad is as follows: Rabindra Shakya, Rajendra Kapali, Sushil Poudel, Shiva Kumar Gothe, Gopal Maharjan, Sandhya Shakya, Gita Thapa, Rita Prajapati, Swechhya Nemwang, Muna Basukala, and Coaches Shankar Gautam and Shiv Narayan Shrestha.