Ganesh Enterprises presented him with the motorbike as per their previous announcement. [break]The enterprises had promised to provide Suzuki bikes and scooters to athletics players prior to their departure for Dhaka if they win medals. Bhandari was the only player to win medal from athletics.
Defense Minister Bidhya Bhandari handed over the key to Bhandari. Bhandari said that the felicitation was a symbolic honor paid to sports, at large.
Bhandari, whose two medals were scrapped in the 10th SAG for failing a doping test credited Nepal Army for his heroic comeback. Proud with his achievement Bhandari said, “The credit of this win goes to the Nepal Army. If I were not in the army I would have been on the roads. Therefore I feel proud to be a soldier of the Nepal Army.”
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Bhandari said that sports had a great role in enhancing a country´s prestige in the international arena.
Ganesh Enterprises General Manager Raj Bahadur Chetrri said that he was proud to felicitate the athlete.
Nepal Olympic Committee vice president Rabi Raj Thapa, Nepal Amateur Athletics Association Genral Secreatary Rabi Rajkarnikar, National Sports Council Vice-president Pitambar Timilsina and Member-secretary Hari Babu Chaudhary, Ganesh Enterprises MD Amar Rajkarnikar also spoke on the occasion.
Despite getting motorbike, Rajendra does not know how to ride it. The bike manufactured in India had won the best bike award in 2010. The motorbike costs Rs 185,000 in Nepal´s market. “I don´t have license but I will learn to ride it and get the license,” Rajendra said in jest.
Meanwhile, MD Chettri also declared to award Rs 25,000 on his own expense if any of Nepali athlete win medal in the regional marathon competition within two years.
APF Badminton from Tuesday
The sixth nation-wide Krishna Mohan Memorial Open Badminton Tournament will kick off on Tuesday at the Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club´s covered hall at Halchowk.
The tournament carrying the highest cash prize in badminton features eight events - men´s singles, women´s singles, men´s doubles, women´s doubles, under 16 boys, under 16 girls, veteran´s doubles 45/55 and mixed doubles. The total cash prize of the tournament is Rs 665,000
The winners of men´s singles will receive Rs 50,000, while the runners-up will bag Rs 25000. Similarly, top two players in women´s singles will bag Rs 40,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively.
The prizes for the players securing the first and second position in men´s and women´s doubles are Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively.
The winners of U-16 Boys and Girls will receive Rs 20,000 each and the runners-up Rs 10,000.
Likewise, the winners of veteran´s doubles will be awarded Rs 75,000 each.
The tie-sheet will be based upon NBA ranking, national championship and the previous edition of the tournament. The tournament will be held till March 6.
WhiteHouse basketball
Golden Gate, Kaski, VS Niketan and Depot High School entered the semifinals of the ongoing Whitehouse Cup (U-19) National Basketball Championship winning their respective matches on Thursday at the covered hall of the Dasharath Stadium.
Golden Gate started well with 14-6 in the first quarter against Golfutar but went down 4-9 in the second. The third quarter was a 15-15 draw. Golden Gate managed to edge out their opponents 11-8 in the final quarter and a total score of 44-38. Bikram Dangol of the winning team scored the highest of 22 points.
In another match, Kaski ousted Gyanodaya 68-56 with the help of Hemanta Pun´s 23 points. Kaski took the lead in the first quarter with 19-10 but lost in the second 10-14. Kaski won the last two quarters 17-15 and 22-17.
Meanwhile, VS Niketan struggled past Trinity 37-31 in the third match. The scores of the first three quarters were 6-7, 12-11, 4-5 in favor of Trinity but VS Niketan bounced back in the last quarter with 15-8.
In the final match, Depot School of Dharan beat Triton 62-50. Depot were down in the first quarter 12-13 but won the remaining three quarters 17-11, 15-10, 18-16 to secure the semifinal berth. Heman Rai contributed the highest 26 points for Depot in the match.
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