Nepali men’s Kabaddi squad set for India camp

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, July 23: The Nepali national men's kabaddi squad will depart for Haryana, India, on Thursday to begin a one-month training camp in preparation for the 20th Asian Games in Japan.

The 12-member squad comprises Ghanshyam Rokka Magar, Anku Pun, Adit Chaudhary, Prakash Giri, Suraj Bohara, Sanskar Kumar, Ravi Tharu, Ashok Joshi, Sagar Yadav, Kumar Lama, Ganesh Parki, and Karun Rasaili.

Four players, Ghanshyam, Anku, Rabi, and Karun, are currently training in India and will join the team directly from there. Ghanshyam is based in Haryana, while the remaining three are training in Himachal Pradesh.

The team will be coached by Bishnu Datta Bhatta, with Kalyan Bhujel as assistant coach. Team Manager Parshuram Oli is scheduled to join the squad in India in a few days.

During their month-long stay in Haryana, the team will train at the Sandeep Narwal Academy. According to Arvind Kumar Jha, General Secretary of the All Nepal Kabaddi Association, the squad is also scheduled to travel to Thailand for further joint training sessions, subject to confirmation.

"Our team will travel to Thailand only if Chinese Taipei also participates, which would allow us to hold practice matches amongst the three nations," Jha explained. "Should Chinese Taipei fail to travel to Thailand, we will extend our training in India, moving to Jaipur and Uttar Pradesh, where we will play friendly matches against local teams."

The squad will travel directly from their international training location to Japan for the Asian Games, scheduled to take place from September 19 to October 4.

This marks the fifth appearance for the Nepali men's kabaddi team at the Asian Games, having previously competed in China (1990), Japan (1994), Thailand (1998), and Indonesia (2018).

Nepal will also field a women's kabaddi team for the second time at the Asian Games. The women's team made their tournament debut at the 19th edition in Hangzhou, China, where they secured a historic bronze medal.

The touring contingent was officially bid farewell at a function on Wednesday by Bishal Shrestha, Vice-President of the National Sports Council, and Tulasi Thapa, President of the All Nepal Kabaddi Association. Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) also bade them farewell in a different function held at NOC House, Satdobato.