Playgrounds - Nil
Clubs - 5/6 (All confined to Nepalgunj)
Tournaments - sporadic
Number of players - 300
The ground reality of Nepali hockey is more dismal than what the above mentioned facts indicate. Hockey is among the 23 events included in the 11th South Asian Games (SAG) from which Nepal is not expecting any medal. “Our only aim is to concede less goals and to gain experience,” admits Ashok Panday, National Sports Council´s chief coach of hockey.
SAG has included hockey, squash and kabaddi compulsorily in the games list because some South Asian countries, excluding Nepal, have been able to dominate in these games even in the higher levels. Only five countries - Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - are participating in hockey in the upcoming SAG. [break]
The Nepali team is participating in hockey to ascertain their level of competence. The five teams will compete with each other in round robin format. The top two teams will compete for gold while the teams that stand third and fourth will vie for bronze. Nepal is likely to remain at the bottom of the table but the team´s coach Baburam Nepal argues that if Nepal can overcome Sri Lanka they have a chance to compete for the third position.
Nepali hockey team had earlier participated in the seventh edition of the SAG held in 1995 in Madras, India. Nepal conceded humiliating 54 goals in four matches but was able to hit-back only one goal. Jitendra Shrestha of Lumbini Zone scored the only goal for Nepal against Bangladesh´s 10 goals. Nepal lost 18-0 to India, 22-0 to Pakistan and 4-0 to Sri Lanka in other matches. In this context, it would be a great achievement if Nepal scores a few goals.
Prior to the seventh edition of SAG, a national selection was held in Kathmandu in 1994. The condition of hockey looks crystal clear from the fact that the only other hockey tournament held in Nepal was during the Fifth National Games about a year ago. Although hockey was included in the national games since the second edition held in 1983 the matches used to be revived only ahead of the tournaments.
Thirty-two players were selected in the first round in accordance to the performance of the players during the Fifth National Games. The players were training at the Saint Xavier´s School and Brihaspati Vidya Sadan but they left for Nepalgunj a few weeks ago after the schools did not provide them the ground citing busy schedule.
The reason for the players to move to Nepalgunj was to familiarize the players with synthetic turf in Lucknow. The Nepali team is back in Nepalgunj practicing in the grass after three weeks of training in Lucknow. The team will reach Dhaka a week ahead of the SAG so that the players get to practice in the turf as well as to adjust in the climate of Bangladesh.
“There hasn´t been much progress in our skills this time as well. We are participating in international event after a long time,” said coach Panday and added, “It´s difficult to play in turf after practicing in grass. It takes about three months to get used to playing in turf.”
Among the neighbors of Nepal, India is the Olympics champions for eight times while Pakistan has won gold thrice in Olympics and four times in world championship. However, Nepal has not been able to gain profit from hockey. “We can get practice matches in India and Pakistan in low budget but our main problem is that we are unable to continue national games,” said Panday.
Nepal organized hockey solidarity course in 2001 and 2006. Altogether 25 coaches, including nine affiliated to the NSC, have benefited from the course. It is better to count on these coaches for the development of hockey rather than to expect anything from officials of the National Hockey Association. However, coach and players are hopeful that hockey in Nepal might soon come of age. “Hockey can flourish in Nepal because it has become essential in the South Asian region,” said Panday.
Matches with India
Nepali team received a warm hospitality from India as they reached Lucknow for practice. The Nepali team arrived at Nepalgunj on Tuesday after a 25-days´ training.
Coach Baburam Nepal tells his experience of the India trip - “Shall we call it our luck or sheer coincidence, India´s SAG team was also in Lucknow. Therefore, we got an opportunity to practice with them daily. This has boosted the self-confidence of our players a lot. Nepal Hockey Association had requested the Indian Embassy for providing us training in Lucknow. Maybe, that is the reason we received equal treatment as the Indian team. The other important thing is that the Indian media also published news related to our team with great interest. We sought to extend our stay in Lucknow but we had to return, as India was busy for Commonwealth Games. Indian players had come to the gates to bid us farewell. Indian coach called us as soon as we arrived at Nepalgunj saying that the tie-sheet has been changed and we had to face India in the first match on January 30. I told him ´we cannot win and are playing only to gain experience, you play for victory´. ”
Members of Nepali team
Rajendra Bahadur Chand (Captain)
Padam Bahadur Chand
Devendra Singh Thalal
Dipendra Aire
Ram Shah
Krishna Chandra Pokhrel
Amit Dhimal
Satya Narayan Chaudhary
Samuel Rai
Kumar Gharti Magar
Bikash Shrestha
Ritesh Mainali
Ramjan Ali Iraqi
Prince Khadka
Hit Gurung
Amit Shreevastav
Ranjit Raut
Chandra Singh Thalal
Bijen Sharma (Chief Coach)
Baburam Nepal (Coach)
Nar Bahadur Chand (Manager)
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