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"We have touched success at the first shot"

CAN President Binaya Raj Pandey

The first victory is always sweet, no matter where or what you are playing in. At the moment, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) is flying high after the excellent results in the on-going ACC Women’s Cup Cricket Tournament in Johor Baru, Malaysia.

With the Nepalese Women cricket team atop Group B with 10 points (with victories against Thailand and Hong Kong and a tie against Malaysia), the team is through to the semi finals where it will face China. Just after the 7 wicket win of the Nepalese team over Hong Kong, Bikram Thapa of Nepalnews caught up with CAN President Binay Raj Pandey. Excerpts:

Mr. President, isn't this mind-blowing news for you? What was your expectation before the tournament?

Definitely, I am very happy. I had not thought about a semis berth but had thought about a good performance from the women’s team. I am extremely happy for them for their historic success.

Do you think this is the breakthrough for Nepalese women’s' team to swim in the international arena? What plans do you have for them?

Yes, we had thought about international participation when I went to visit the far western region where girls were playing cricket with much enthusiasm. We, CAN, have sent a proposal to Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for Nepal’s development in women’s cricket. ACC has awarded Region No. 5 Nepalgunj the prestigious award for their initiation. The ICC also awarded them. Now we have to focus on regular participation in international tournaments, but unfortunately, ACC doesn't have more tournaments for ladies. For your information, we are organizing U-14 and U-15 girls Inter School Cricket tournament in all CAN affiliated regions to produce more cricket playing ladies.

What was the preparation for the on-going tournament? Do you think that CAN can achieve the success at the first shot?

The preparation was good as these ladies have been training for quite some time. Actually, the ladies from Nepalgunj, Baitadi and Kathmandu showed great enthusiasm. We hope we can progress further in the tournament, but we are extremely happy that we have reached the semis and made history. This tournament is an experiment project of the ACC. They had provided 5,000 USD to all participating countries.

What are your future plans? Are you thinking of an honour program for them?

We have already decided to felicitate them. There will definitely be some awards and motivation waiting for them. The main thing is that we are thinking about regular tournaments and participation.

What is your message to Nepalese ladies who want to play cricket?

I welcome them to play cricket. Start with a wooden bat or a soft ball. Who knows, you can be the starlet like others. We are announcing different tournaments for ladies players. Hopefully, we can achieve success with help from all sectors.

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