Kathmandu, May 18

A 16-member team, including seven youth badminton players of Shuttle Time Connect, is on Friday leaving for Australia to participate in the Nepal-Gold Coast Exchange Programme slated for May 20-28 in Gold Coast.

One each players from seven schools, picked up from among 40 schools under the Shuttle Time Project, will be accompanied to Gold Coast by two each teachers and parents and five officials. The programme is being held on the sidelines of the 2017 Sudirman Cup, the 15th edition of the prestigious badminton event at the Carrara Sport and Leisure Centre in Gold Coast.

Shuttle Time Connect Coordinator Deepak Thapa, who is also the President of Kathmandu District Badminton Association, said the project was a blend of education, culture and sports. “These students will get chance to present the cultural shows in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sudirman Cup apart from watching matches,” said Thapa. “All these seven schools have their respective partner schools in Gold Coast and the students will have educational and cultural exchange with them apart from staying with host families for three nights and visiting the schools for assemblies and classes,” he added.

Thapa said the students would emerge as different personalities as they can learn many things from their Australian friends and partner schools and also see the sports infrastructure there. “This is just a beginning. If the outcome is positive, it will certainly grow in the days to come,” added Thapa.

Prasiddhi Aganja of Basu Secondary School, Rashmi Maharjan of Janasewa, Bijaya Maka of Bagiswori, Sujan Khadka Ratna Rajya, Saili Shah of Kalikasharan, Ambar Bahadur Magar of Sitaram Secondary and Yunika Niraula of Bal Bikash Secondary School are the students who have been picked up for the programme. School Coordinator of Shuttle Time Connect Manoj Acharya of Ratna Rajya and Ram Laxmi Koju of Bagiswori are the teachers selected to accompany the students to Australia. “We went to each of the 40 schools of the valley where Shuttle Time programme is launched before picking up 20 students each from seven for the programme after consulting with the two teachers deployed at each school under the project,” said Manoj Acharya, School Coordinator of Shuttle Time Connect. “We then trimmed it to five from each school before picking up these seven students. We had been providing these players with regular training since mid-September,” he added.