KATHMANDU, Nov 22: Olympic torch rally for the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) has started from Kathmandu on Friday morning.
Member Secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC) Ramesh Silwal handed the torch to senior Nepali Olympian Jit Bahadur KC in an event organized on the premises of Swayambhunath temple.
SAG torch to be toured in all seven provinces
According to the NSC, Olympians including KC will take the torch to all the main cities of the seven provinces.
The rally will reach Province 1’s Biratnagar on the first day followed by Province 2’s Janakpur on the second. It will be taken to Province 3’s Hetauda and Chitwan on the third, Province 5’s Lumbini and Butwal on the fourth and Karnali Province’s Surkhet and Province 5’s Nepalgunj on the fifth day of the rally. Similarly, the rally will be in Sudur Paschim Province’s Dhangadi and Gandaki’s Pokhara on the sixth and seventh day respectively.
The torch will be toured in Pokhara on the eighth day as well and will be brought back to Kathmandu on the same day. The plan includes torch’s tour in different parts of Kathmandu valley on the ninth day. On the same day, the Olympic flame will be lit at the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar.
The rally will be participated by the Olympians taekwondo’s Deepak Bista, athletics’ Baikuntha Manandhar and Rajendra Bhandari, swimming’s NayanaShakya, boxing’s UmeshMaskey, and judo’s DevuThapa. Also, athletics’ Jit Bahadur KC, Gyan Bahadur Bohora, Rajkumari Pandey, Kanchhi Maya Koju and Mukunda Hari Shrestha, shooting's Tika Ram Shrestha. The association’s President and two gold medal winner of the SAG Deepak Shrestha will also take part in the prestigious event.
SAG will be inaugurated on December 1 and will continue for the next ten days. More than 3000 players will participate in 26 games.
