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| Kathmandu Thursday April 04, 2002 Chaitra 22, 2058. |
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Khadka continues to spell
magic on football fans
By Purushottam Kattel
KATHMANDU, April 3 : Fan following in sports is
rare commodity in Nepal. No wonder then, anyone who does, must have outstanding records in
one’s sporting field. Hari Khadka is one of them, who has been topping the charts of
country’s innumerable football fans.
Four out of five titles that Mahendra Police
Club (MPC) won this season – December 2001-March 2002 – Khadka swept all
bounteous awards. Some of his fans attributed those feat to his marriage. The 26-year-old
striker, who tied the nuptial knots with his long-time sweetheart Reena Shrestha recently,
does not rule it out, too: "Apart from my hard work and luck, her presence has also
been important factor," Khadka shies.
"By the way I don’t think I played
poorly before marriage," he adds jokingly.
The Jhapa-born footballer found a solid platform
in San Miguel Cup to showcase his sublime soccer skills in 1993. Fittingly so, he walked
away with the man-of-the-series award. There was no looking back thereafter.
Two years later, Khadka, earned a big break when
he was called into Nepali national team for the Bristol SAFF Gold Cup held in Colombo, Sri
Lanka in 1995. While others struggled to retain their place, his determination and drive
to excel always makes him national selectors first choice.
He was rewarded with silver boot for being the
highest goalscorer among Nepali players in the 8th South Asian Federation (SAF) Games.
Nepal reached the final only not to fulfil the aspiration of the home crowd, going down
1-0 to Bangladesh.
Club football has always been the source that
feed the national team with polished players. And like any other quality player, Khadka,
who started off the first division football from NRT, admits it wholeheartedly. He has
been associated with Mahendra Police Club (MPC) for the last three years.
"All the credit goes to MPC," he says.
"For the club means
a lot to me. I wouldn’t have been what I’m today without the club’s
support."
And in return, the police outfit has also been
rewarded with something by ‘Khadka factor’. "Not often does the public
support police and army teams," explains MPC captain Anil Adhikari.
"But it’s heartening to see some fan
following behind our outfit. And to some extent, Hari has been one of the factors
responsible for that," says Adhikari, who has led MPC to a total of 17 titles.
His skilful dribbling and ability to run with
sudden burst of speed not only made him the most sought after striker in the country but
he is equally popular in SAARC neighbours. Khadka, who
first crossed the country’s boundary to play for Mohan Bagan, has been signed by a
Bangladeshi premiere division club for the second time.
Awani Limited, a Chitagaon-based club, has
agreed to pay US$ 1,500 per month – a record for Nepali players – for playing
for them in the Bangladesh Super League. Earlier, he had played from Brothers’ Union
for US$ 1,200. |
