The Nepali team will go to the tournament under the captaincy of Nepal Police Club's Im Ranamagar for the first time.
The association had shortlisted 12 players from the 18-member squad going under the close camp training session.The team comprises Kul Bahadur Thapa, Milan Malla, Man Bahadur Shrestha, Dhan Bahadur Bhatta Chhetri as open spikers, Sanjay Aryal, Mahendra Shrestha, Raj Bahadur Thapa as quick spikers, Chandra Bahadur Kunwar, Sanju Shah as side spikers, skipper Im and Hari Hajur Thapa as setters and Umakanta KC as libero. Apart from Sanju, who is from Western Region team, all other shortlisted players are from departmental sides—four each from Nepal Police Club and Tribhuvan Army Club and three from Armed Police Force.
Sanju, Umakanta, Hari Hajur, Man Bahadur and Dhan Bahadur are making their international debut as Khushi Chaudhary, Pushpa Jung Malla and Suresh Tharu, who all are from APF, failed to secure their places in the team.
Im's teammate Sanjay will take responsibility of the vice-captain while Kapil Kishore Shrestha has been appointed as the chief coach for the tournament and Prajwal Bahadur Singh as his deputy. Association's member Shyam Shrestha has been appointed as the team manager.
National team's assistant coach Keshablal Shrestha passed away due to the recent earthquake.
"I am very hopeful about great performance from the team," said coach Kapil. "We are under psychological pressure due to national calamity and our closed training session has not been very fruitful. Though the team is physically weak, we are hopeful about entering the tournament with high in confidence. We are training players in strengthening their mental health," he said.
"Participation itself is an achievement when the country is affected by natural calamity. It will be psychologically hard for players to cope up with the situation as many of their houses have been affected. Nevertheless past experiences will be instrumental."
Captain Im sees participation in Dhaka as a great opportunity. "Participating in an international tournament during dire situation is an important achievement. We will have to perform in the tournament with great enthusiasm."
According to NVA, Nepal's participation was possible only after host Bangladesh assured to bear all the expenses.
"We are grateful to Bangladesh. We were not in a position to participate in an international tournament during this time. But we could make it as Bangladesh will be bearing all of our costs," said manager Shyam Shrestha.
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