Pandey really had an ability to blend easily with any game that he played. Komal Pandey is a name as renowned in the field of football as it is in cricket and athletics. The 69-year-old is a distinguished figure in Nepali sports.
During the awards ceremony, Pandey revealed how he used to play football made from rags. One day, he along with five friends collected money with great endeavor and bought a football. During their first match, the ball burst hitting a barbed wire, leaving all the kids full of tears.
"I feel that today I have been repaid for the tears of that day," said the energetic grandfather who entered the stage with his little grandson, both dressed alike in daura suruwal.
The former player who dedicated his award to legendary athlete Baikuntha Manandhar, Sangina Baidya, Deepak Bista, Pushkar Shah, Laxman Shah and Mehboob Alam, also shared a light moment with the audience.
Pandey said people were inquisitive about his participation in an international athletics match in which he finished fourth. "They asked me how many players there were, and I replied four," he said boldly.
Pandey thinks being born in Dillibazar was a great luck. The environment there shaped his personality in the field of sports.
He began playing football and cricket together in 1955/56. He played in renowned football tournaments of the time from Balsakha Dal and Padmodaya School.
The tournaments he played in were the Birthday Cup, Devimaya Shield, national tournaments by Cricket Association of Nepal, Bishnu Trophy, Madan Memorial Shield, and national championships in athletics a few years later.
He is affiliated with the historic Mahabir Club in a memorable way. He joined the junior team of Mahabir Club in 1957, and helped them clinch the title of Martyrs Memorial League nine years later and again in 1969.
He also established himself as a prominent cricketer during that time. He also opened the Amateurs´ Cricket Club in his own initiative in 1965 at Trichandra College.
He was also active in athletics during the period which is reflected in his five gold hauls in 100m, 200m, 1x400m relay and 4x400m relay and long jump in the national tournament in 1964. A player could participate in only five categories at that time.
Pandey represented Nepal in the international arena in three different sports in the span of a decade. He was an important member of Nepal´s football team during the Aga Khan Memorial Gold Cup held in Bangladesh in 1963.
He participated in athletics in 1966 in Cambodia´s Games for the New Emerging Forces and carried the Olympic torch during the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
Besides these three games, Pandey also vied in boxing and swimming, winning medals too.
Pandey believes that there was a drastic change in the way he viewed sports after acquiring diploma in physical education from Israel. "The course helped me broaden my perception of sports," he said.
Besides sports, he also spent 33 years in teaching profession. He began his career as curator of Tribhuvan University´s international cricket grounds from 2001 to 2010 after retiring from the University as a teacher of economics.
Pandey says that two of his greatest achievements are carrying the torch in the Tokyo Olympics and winning the Pulsar Lifetime Achievement Award.
"This is one of my two greatest rewards which will inspire me to contribute actively to sports even in my retired life," he said.
Lastly, Pandey urged everyone to keep sports away from politics.
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