Shah has already submitted a letter to Nepal Volleyball Association (NVA) about his retirement and will probably make an official announcement during the First South Asian Invitational Volleyball Championship beginning in Kathmandu on Friday. He was replaced by Kailash Dutta Bhatta as the national volleyball captain last week. [break]
"I was still fit enough to play but I thought it would be better to give chance to the new generation. I didn´t attend the closed camp this time round as I had made up my mind to retire. I was waiting for a good opportunity to announce it. I thought the First South Asian Invitational Championship would be the right one," Shah told Republica.
Shah, 45, played volleyball at the national and international level for last 25 years and led the Nepali men´s volleyball team for 14 years since the Eighth South Asian Games held in Kathmandu. His last tournament as captain was the 11th SAG held in Bangladesh.
Shah was born in Rudikot, Achham but started his volleyball career playing for Bheri zone in 2045 BS. He represented Bheri in the 15th and 17th editions of the National Men´s Volleyball Championship.
He joined the Nepal Police in 2049 BS and has been serving as an inspector till now. He had made his international debut in the Seventh SAG.
He also represented Nepal in beach volleyball. He paired with Prem Bhandari to win the International Invitational Beach Volleyball Tournament held in Bangladesh in 2005 and 2007. Shah was adjudged the best player of the tournament in the 2007 edition.
Shah also represented Nepal in the second and third editions of the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship. The Third Asian Beach Volleyball Championship was the last official international tournament he played.
"I was in the national team for a long period and remained captain for 14 years. However, I played very few tournaments at the international level," said Shah. "I led the national team when Nepali volleyball was on the decline," he added.
"I played with three generations of Nepali volleyball. It was an achievement for me at the individual level. However, it took 14 years to find my replacement and it shows the sad part of Nepali volleyball," said Shah.
However, Shah said he is hopeful about the development of Nepali volleyball after witnessing the recent activities of NVA and its new leadership. Shah also said that he would not be away from volleyball though he has decided to hang up his boots.
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