Taekwondo ace Deepak Bista, secretary of the organizing committee, said during a press meet organized at the Nepal Tourism Board hall that the tournament would be one of the biggest tournaments in Nepal.[break]
The international championship, organized jointly by Nepal Taekwondo Association (NTA) and International Nepalese Taekwondo Association (INTA), is the biggest taekwondo game after the Eighth South Asian Games held in 1999 in Nepal.
The organizers said that 140 players and officials will attend the championship. A demonstration team from South Korea has already arrived in Nepal for the tournament.
Players from Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the UAE, the USA and Nepal will be competing in 14 categories. Eight categories are included in men´s events while six weight categories are for women. Altogether 51 males and 30 females are competing in the championship.
Narayan Gurung, vice-president of INTA, said that they were organizing the championship to develop taekwondo in Nepal. “We donated 20,000 dollars for the championship and will be helping them in the coming years,” said Gurung.
Member Secretary of National Sports Council Yubaraj Lama, coordinator of the championship Sanjeev Regmi and former president of FNCCI Kush Kumar Joshi wished for the success of the tournament.
Sangina Baidhya, coach of the Nepali team, said that the home players are ready for the championship.
“We are expecting medals from all the players,” she said.
Altogether 14 Nepali players, eight men and six women, are competing in the championship scheduled to be held at the covered hall of the Dasharath Stadium from September 22-24.
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