Spectators clapped each time the elephants hit the ball with trunk and legs.[break]
The football match was organized by Chitwan Regional Hotel Association on the eve of Nepal Tourism Year 2011. On the occasion, elephant calves of Kist Bank and DCBL Bank played against each other.
The buffer zone ground thundered with roaring applaud as the audience cheered the goal by Narayan Gaj of Kist Bank in just 1 minute 50 seconds. He added another in the same half to double the tally. Kist won the 30 minute match 2-0 dominating the game right from the beginning.
The win also secured Kist´s place in the final. Kist will take on the winner of the match bewteen Tourism Development Bank and Gaurishankar Development Bank in the final.
Altogether four teams are participating in the calves´ football match which was conducted in the 20x35m ground. The match not only entertained the spectators but also seemed to have practiced the fair play slogan of football. Had the match not ended in regulation time, the fate of the winners would have been decided in tiebreaker, stated Aamir Prasad Yadav, the technical coordinator of the event according to rule drafted for the event.
(Photo: Dipesh Shrestha)
Another attraction of the event was 300m elephant race. Altogether 20 teams of different countries participated in the first day race. Along with defending champions Champakali, teams of England, France, China participated in the event. Similarly, 12 teams each have advanced into the next round of tanga and gada daud out of 20 participating teams in both categories.
According to Keshav Paudel, the publicity coordinator of the event, the race was organized since last seven years for promoting tourism and conservation of wild life. "Such events are also effective in attracting domestic tourists."
The organizers hope that such programs organized on the eve of a tourism year would put Nepal in the international tourism map. Elephant makeup was an additional attraction during this edition.
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