BFTC whip West Lindsey boys

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 28 - Bhaktapur Football Training Center (BFTC) started Mayos Cup 2001 Invitational Youth Friendly football tournament campaign in style as they defeated the West Lindsey boys 4-1 in the opening match of the tournament played at Dashrath Stadium Tuesday.

The boys from Yorkshire, England, went into the lead as early as 17th minute but were unable to check relentless attack of the boys from Bhaktapur. The visiting team got into lead when Danny Butterworth scored through a 25-yard free kick.

The English boys, however, could not keep the momentum going for long. Their lead lasted only for 7 minutes as Ajit Thapa leveled the score in the 24th minute. Thapa, receiving the ball outside the penalty area, rounded it off the West Lindsey ‘keeper Scotty Aryas to net his first goal in the match.

Bhaktapur boys looked stronger and more agile than their rivals during the match. The Yorkshire boys, though weak in the field, were on target when it came to trying shots at the goal. Most of their long shots were on target but the Bhaktapur goalie was equal to the task handling them safely.

Once the BFTC boys equalised, they started a series of attacks against the touring team. They did not take long to double the score as Jeevan Simkeman, taking advantage of the lacklustre Lindsey defence, scored in the 37th minute.

The second half was no different for the visiting team as they conceded two more goals. However, they held the BFTC offense at bay till the very end. Jayram Shrestha and Ramesh Karmacharya scored one each in the 78th and the 80th minute to end the game at 4-1.

Earlier today, the tournament was inaugurated by Geeta Rana, president of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) recognised by National Sports Council. The first match of the tournament, slated to be played between Nepal Football Academy and ANFA junior team could not be held due to poor ground conditions in the ANFA complex, Satdobato. The same match will be played in Dashrath Stadium on Wednesday.

Organisers into controversy

KATHMANDU, Aug 28 – The Mayos Cup got into controversy on the opening day itself as one of the participating teams, the ANFA Academy boys, were expelled by the organisers, Nepal Football Fan Club, from the tournament without any prior notice.

The ANFA boys, who have been training for three years under Ganesh Thapa led ANFA, say that they were not given any reason behind the expulsion. Issuing a press release, they blamed the organisers of conspiracy saying that two teams from ANFA Academy were registered for the tournament on August 20 after taking a registration fee of Rs 1000 per team. The amount was refunded by the organisers on Monday.

Prashant Giri, captain of the Academy team, said that the expulsion came as a shock to the players as they had already started preparing for the tournament. "We were invited by the organisers to participate in the tournament and now all our hard work has gone in vain," said Giri. The press conference was attended by the 33 trainees of the first batch of ANFA Academy.

Bikas Malla, one of the trainees in the Academy, said that the boys participating in the tournament under the name of ANFA junior are not the ANFA academy products. He also said that the boys were very keen on playing against the junior players from West Lindsey Football Club. "Playing against them would have provided us an opportunity to test ourselves against a foreign team," he said. "That would have added on to our experience."

Ganesh Thapa, president of the FIFA and AFC recognised ANFA, was also present on the occasion. He said that the news has disappointed the boys. He also said that the ANFA Academy boys will tour Bangkok for a friendly football tour.

Millennium down South Point

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 28 - New Millennium School put off the challenge of South Point School 29-27 in a closely fought contest in the 2nd Gyan Niketan Running Shield Inter-school basketball tournament on Tuesday.

Both the teams played defensively from the outset, resulting in a low scoring game. There was no score until the first five minutes as neither team could find the basket. But when South Point broke the deadlock, Millennium made sure it did not lag too far as they replied back immediately building up an exciting encounter. The teams were locked at 8-8 at one stage as the pendulum swung evenly.

Millennium boys, unlike their previous outings, looked comfortable while controlling the ball whereas South Point, who looked impressive in the beginning, faltered away as the match progressed wasting a total of eight free basket.

Aided by a couple of quickly baskets by Kramash Shrestha, who would topscore with 12 points later, Millennium extended the lead beyond two points over South Point for the first time in the match as the first half ended up 16-12.

In the second half, South Point tried desperately to comeback into the match but only to no avail. Although they narrowed the deficit down to two points at 24-22. But again two consecutive baskets from Millennium’s Milan Rai blocked their progress. Rai went onto share the honour of topscorer with Kramash Shrestha as he too netted 12 points.

The tension mounted up as South Point, needing only two more points to level the score, built up pressure on Millennium. Raju Maharjan even went close to find the all-important points in the closing moments but failed to do so and lost the match by two points.

The match could not have been rougher as Millennium committed 21 fouls and South Point 17. As a result, the referee sent off a player each from either team against five fouls.

Despite the win, Millennium School, however, are less likely to enter the quarter-finals from Group ‘C’ as they lost all three previous matches. "We struggled in our previous outings as we were missing some of the prominent players," said captain Bijaya Vaidya.

VS Niketan will take on Occidental Public School in their Group ‘D’ outing on Wednesday.

Nepali paddlers remain ill-equipped to harvest new changes

By Suman Malla

KATHMANDU, Aug 28 - With its main entrance usually remaining closed, the Lainchaur Covered hall, hardly beckons anyone’s attention. However, a hop inside the hall would unveil a lively ambience.

As the 9th South Asian Federation (SAF) Games are closing in, the walls ricochets with tapping of table tennis players who are at intensive drillings.

The late preparation, as the game’s experts say, has made the work much stiffer for the Nepali table tennis players. But they hope the players’ tireless efforts will pay off in the Islamabad Games.

"Unlike most other games, table tennis players have been under regular training," says senior coach Bijendra Hamal. "So we’re hopeful our performance in the 9th SAF Games will be better."

Nepali paddlers, who proved their merit winning a team gold in the 5th SAF Games held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1991, picked up three bronze medals in the 8th SAF Games.

And players believe that the ranking system that is widely followed in the big events these days would help their cause.

"We have high hopes this time too," says Rajendra Kapali, the 30-year-old national paddler. "Since we’d finished third in the last SAF Games, we’re less likely to face tougher opposition straightaway in the 9th SAF Games which would definitely increase our chances there."

Kapali anchored two bronze medals in the team events: men’s doubles and mixed doubles in the last SAF Games. Sandeep Singh Mahat and Geeta Thapamagar were his men’s and mixed doubles partners. The women’s doubles pair of Thapamagar and Sandhya Shakya won another bronze medal for Nepal.

Besides, Nepali coaches and players also expect that the recent introduction of larger table tennis balls from the International Table Tennis Federation would help Nepali paddlers during the Islamabad Games.

"The use of the 40mm TT balls discourages spin, giving fair chance to players like ours," explains another table tennis instructor, Shankar Gautam.

ITTF, in an apparent bid last year to slow down the game, reduce spin on the ball and lengthen the rallies to make it more television- and spectator-friendly, increased the diameter of the ball from 38mm to 40mm in diameter.

The new regulations may favour the Nepali paddlers, but at the same time create some
worries. Coaches and players are living with fear that lack of equipment might affect their chances in Pakistan.

"We’re training with the balls that we brought from Japan following our participation at the World Championships there earlier this year," he says. "But we don’t have them enough. We haven’t received new balls and other necessary equipment despite our repeated request at the National Sports Council."

There are reports that table tennis venue in Pakistan will be quipped with synthetic mats. A cause for concern to Nepali players, who have been training on the wooden floor. Add to that, the players have something important in their mind for the international competitions.

"There’s little to gain if we only play in Nepal," adds Kapali, who is shouldering the burden in absence of Sandeep Singh Mahat. "Abroad, each match is a lesson to be learnt for there seems to be room for improvement always."

Recalling his last international participation in Japan, Kapali, said that the Maldivian players are on training in there since last six month in preparation for the SAF Games. "While India has always been a force to reckon with, other countries too are making rapid progress either through long training abroad or hiring services of foreign coaches," he said.

The member-secretary of NSC, Binod Shankar Palikhe, however, assured that the council would do everything in its capacity to address the difficulties that the associations now face. "As most of the sports equipment aren’t readily available here, we’ve got to import them," he said. "We’ll do whatever we can to solve their problem and enhance our medal prospects."