Kalpana Chaudhary of Ilam squirmed on the ground wailing for help after she was knocked down by Parsa´s Ranju Rai in the women´s U-63 kg selection round at the Dasharath Stadium. Her hand was supported by a sling, wrapped with ice and taken to the adjacent Sports Medicine Center but no doctor was in sight. Staff of the center said the doctor-in-charge was attending a meeting somewhere else. [break]
The injured judoka was barely able to walk and she was not even given painkillers by the organizer Nepal Judo Association (NJA). To add insult to her injury, the general secretary of NJA Ramesh Maharjan instructed that she be taken to Bir Hospital to minimize the expenses even as a private nursing home is just in the vicinity.
Even the X-Ray operator was not present and was said to be in an official duty outside the stadium complex. Physiotherapist Suman Dangol at the NSC ruled out fracture after examination but said she might have ligament problems. The X-Ray was taken half an hour later at the Center after the Blue Cross Nursing Home quoted a whopping Rs 580.
When NJA President Deepak Harsha Bajracharya was apprised of the situation, he instantly provided the expenses for the treatment and gave instructions to take the injured player to Blue Cross Nursing Home.
Dr Prakash Sah of the nursing home´s emergency section said the X-Ray report didn´t show any fractures but looking at the severity of her pain, said she might need a plaster and recommended that an orthopedic doctor be consulted. Bajracharya assured of treatment for the injured judoka.
Dr Ajay Rana of NSC said they were not informed about the judo selection. There are only two doctors -- one on morning duty and the other manning the center during daytime -- to look after 84 sports associations. In addition, Rana said he frequently has to go out for tournaments outside the stadium, often leaving the Sports Medicine Center unattended.
“We are on duty strictly but today I was in a meeting and was not informed about the selection,” Rana told myrepublica.com.
The Sports Medicine Center is understaffed while the number of players is increasing day by day. “There are about more than a million players associated with these associations and there are only two doctors. NSC increased its staff during the Eighth SAG but it didn´t increase the number of medical staff,” rued Rana.
Rana has been working at NSC for the past 25 years and another doctor was added as recently as six years ago. “The policy makers should understand that there is an urgent need to hire medical staff. There is no budget either and the equipments that we are using were bought during the Eighth SAG (in 1999),” he added.
“What can we do in such a situation?” Rana questioned.
Primary selection completed
Eleventh South Asian Games (SAG) bronze medalist Debu Thapa (Nepal Police Club) along with Ranju Rai (Parsa) and Chonu Gurung (Bhanubhakta) were selected in women´s U-63 kg category of judo on Monday for participation in the 16th Asian Games to be held in China in November.
In the women´s U-52 kg category, Sushila Adhikari (NPC), SAG bronze medalist Radha Devi Rai (NPC) and Laxmi Tamang (Central Dojo) claimed the first three positions in the first round selection carried out in league format.
In the men´s U-73 kg, SAG bronze medalist Deepak Krishna Shrestha (MMAC), Raj Bahadur Chand (NPC) and Karna Bahadur Bohara (Army) got through the selection. In the men´s Above-100 kg, SAG bronze medalist Rajan Joshi (Lalitpur) was the lone contender to be selected.
According to judo coach Rishi Ram Pradhan, NJA opted for the four weight categories as there are more chances to win medals.
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