Khukuri Gold Cup From Feb. 27

-By Our Correspondent

KHUKURI Gold Cup, Nepal's largest prized soccer tournament, is scheduled to start from February 27 in Chitwan, Nepalgunj and Kathmandu simultaneously.

A total of 34 Nepalese teams are taking part in the Surya Tobacco Company sponsored Cup which was previously known as the Khukuri Cup.

The participating teams are divided into eight groups. Four groups each will be playing in Chitwan and Nepalgunj respectively from February 27 to March 3 and the winners of each group will meet in Kathmandu to play the final rounds of the Cup that starts from March 9. The final will be on March 18.

The winner of the Khukuri Gold Cup will be awarded a cash prize of  Rs. 210,000 along with trophies and certificates. This is the biggest purse  to be won  in the domestic football tournament so far.

Similarly, the runners-up of the tournament will bag one hundred thousand rupees in cash prize along with trophies and certificates. Likewise, the best player of the final round matches of the tournament will be entitled to a cash prize of Rs. 10,000.

The teams scheduled to take part in Nepalgunj qualifying round are: RCT, Rupandehi, Kailali and Naxal Youth Mandal (Group A), NRT, Three Stars, Palpa and Boys Sports (Group B) , Kaski, Sankata, Banke and Bansbari Club (Group C), Tribhuvan Club, Kanchanpur Boys Union, Kathmandu Club and Dang (Group D).

Meanwhile, the other teams to be playing in Chitwan in their qualifying rounds are: MMC, Morang, Mahotari and Sindhupalchowk (Group A), MPC, Dhanusha, Ilam, Makawanpur (Group B), Friends' Club, Jhapa, Chitwan and Rautahat (Group C), and Sunsari, JYC, Saptari, Parsa and Kavre (Group D).

The tournament is estimated to cost Rs. 1.4 million.