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After 20 years, the wait is finally over. It is official. The much hyped, talked Nepal National League Football tournament got underway in Kathmandu recently. The highly anticipated competition, after having pushed back to a later date numerous times, kicked off on 21 January, thus putting an end to all doubts over hosting the tournament.   Allow me to rewind time briefly. In April 2014 All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) floated    the concept of national league, the first of its kind. The immediate status of the tournament, however, remained unclear with no details and timetable revealed then. Six months later, the football body confirmed hosting the league at a time when the Public Accounts Committee was investigating President of ANFA Mr. Ganesh Thapa who is tied to a corruption scandal. Dates were also finalized for the league only to be deferred, time and time again. Conspiratorial as it may sound, the timing of the announcement, in my opinion w...

Nepal should have been atop the leaderboard after completion of day two action   in the ongoing World Cricket League Division Two in Namibia. Instead, the team finds themselves struggling to stay afloat. Quite clearly, it has been quite a struggle for our batsmen who are still looking to get the rhythm and form. We witnessed the team play two nail-biting matches, in my opinion they should have won both, considering the batting depth. It did not happen. The narrow win over the Netherlands is a big sigh of relief for the team and fans like me. More importantly, they won by a whisker to get back into contention, after finding themselves with their backs against the wall. The batsmen must make the best of what they have got. So far, we have not seen it. All those following the competition will agree that the team’s fragile batting attributed to the heart breaking defeat in the opener against Uganda. And against the Netherlands another debacle was narrowly averte...

Come 17 January, cricket aficionados will be on the edge of their seats when the national cricket team of Nepal takes on Uganda in the opener of the ICC World Cricket League Division Two in Wanderers Affies, Namibia. Team Nepal consists of a well-blended mix of youth, experience and talent. Skippered by veteran Paras Khadka they stand on the cusp of making yet another history. The 50 million dollar question, however, on everyone’s minds is: Can Coach Dassanayake boys pull it off? I don’t have any definitive answer. All we can do is speculate for now. Let us hope that they play to their potential and come out trumps from the competition. Expectations surrounding Team Nepal are fairly high, undoubtedly. Whether or not, they are able to replicate the form from the 2014 season is yet to be seen. Even if they meet expectations, they will need to put in extra effort to ensure their job gets done. In the opener against Uganda Nepal cannot afford to lose. They must get off...

No question, Nepali sport was the biggest loser once again in 2014. The year ended on a   disappointing, frustrating note, creating more gloom and uncertainty in the sport sector that has gone from bad to worse. Having followed Nepali sports for close to three decades, the current state of sports has never been so pathetic. Athletes’ morale, performance is at an all time low. I have never seen anything like it. With each passing day, athletes and coaches face new challenges and new hurdles. They have no choice but to endure agony and uncertainty. In fact, they have been brave enough to cope with uncertainties, maintaining hope in the face of adversity. I cannot imagine the toll this has already had on them. I feel terribly sorry for them. The way things stand right now; I have deep doubts as to whether the situation will improve in the near future.                   ...