10th SAG heroes: Some missing, some trying their luck

Nepal won seven gold medals during the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2006.

Kamal Bahadur Adhikari (weight-lifting), Deepak Bista, Manita Shahi (taekwondo), Sulochana Sijakhwa, Kushal Shrestha (karate), Bina Khadka Lama and Rajkumar Rasaili (wu-shu) contributed a gold medal each for Nepal. [break]

But the equilibrium has shifted in the past three years with some of those national heroes away from Nepal while some will not be able to participate in the games because of the exclusion of events in the upcoming 11th SAG in Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 29 to February 9, 2010.

Only four of those national heroes will compete again.

Rajendra Bhandari (athletics) had won two gold medals but he was disqualified after he tested positive for anabolic steroid. Rajendra will be competing again as his two year ban has already ended.

Kamal broke his 266 kg SAG record by lifting 268 kg during the Beijing Olympics. He bettered the result in the 5th National Games last year lifting 269 kg, which includes 115 kg in snatch and 154 kg in clean and jerk. He, however, has to face a stiff competition this time as he is competing in 77 kg weight category instead of his regular 69 kg.

According to Kamal, the SAG organizing committee has removed the 69 kg weight category and included only four weight categories. "If I put up weight it won´t be much of a problem, but it is difficult to gain weight in such a short period," said Kamal.

Kamal is not the only player to face the heat in the SAG. Bina and Rajkumar are out of competition because their weight category have been removed in wu-shu. Bina had won a gold medal in the Thaulo event while Rajkumar had won gold in 48 kg.

"Rajkumar is a bit disappointed by the decision to exclude 48 kg event," said wu-shu coach Ganesh Aryal. He informed that Bina is in the United States but she could have returned had her weight-category been included.

Sulochana is also in the United States for her studies. She completed her higher secondary level and left for the US to pursue undergraduate course. Meanwhile, Kushal could not participate in the 5th National Games due to injury but is back preparing for the SAG. However, he has to face other players before he gets selected. The final round of selection for all the games will begin next week.

Three times SAG gold medalist Deepak is preparing for the upcoming regional games but is suffering from left knee injury. Earlier he had undergone operation for the right knee after the 9th SAG, Pakistan. Since then, he has been using his left leg more often which prompted ligament problem while he was training in Korea.

He is still confident of performing well but said he cannot give 100 percent output. "SAG is not tough as compared to Olympics. I played in Olympics despite my injury so I can definitely play in the SAG," he said.

Manita is also suffering from minor knee injury but said it would not deter her. "We are putting all our effort for SAG with a firm belief that if we work hard we will reap success," Manita said.

Rajendra will be competing for marathon. It is the first time he is participating in marathon at international level. His latest record in marathon is 2 hours 22 minutes and 18 seconds.

At present, the army personnel is busy for the Commander-in-Chief Trophy that begins on November 22. His official record will be taken after the trophy.

"I will try my best to secure gold for Nepal," said Rajendra, who wants to forget the doping saga.