ANFA to select national team players on performance basis

Lalitpur, August 9:

All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) is considering the upcoming national league as the basis of selection of players for the national team, which has been staying idle for the last two years. The team has not played in any tournament after the Asia Cup qualifiers in South Korea and Oman. At the moment, the national team is without skipper and goalkeeper after Upendra Man Singh announced his retirement, along with midfielder Bal Gopal Maharjan in May. “We are planning to appoint the captain on seniority basis, and fulfil other vacant spots after the league scheduled to start on August 25,” ANFA president Ganesh Thapa said. “We have noticed a couple of players who have won many hearts on the field,” said Thapa. Apart from other international participations, the Nepali team did not even take part at the World Cup and Olympic Games qualifiers. “It’s better to prepare well rather than returning home with the loads of goals,” Thapa explained. “We have to spend a lot of money for those qualifiers, so we decided to utilise it for the development of youth players put in ANFA Academy to develop a strong team for the future events,” Thapa justified. Thapa was hopeful about bringing out a strong national team for the upcoming South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Games. “We are planning to organise some friendly matches among the South Asian nations to know our standard of football,” he informed.

Bouddha in semis

KATHMANDU: Naresh Khatri and Bishnu KC scored two goals each as Bouddha Club outplayed Thapagaun Tole Sudhar Samiti 4-2 and set up a semi-final clash with Brigade Boys Club at the sixth Sano Gaucharan Knock-out Football Tournament, which has been organised by Sano Gaucharan Youth Club. For Thapagaun, Binod Shahi netted both the goals. On Wednesday, Mahabir Club will take on Sano Gaucharan Club in the first semi-final.

Young Heart win

KATHMANDU: Lal Prasad Pun netted 22 points as Young Heart School defeated Valley Public School 48-26 in the Kathmandu District wide Inter-school Basketball Tournament, which has been organised by PABSON to mark the 78th birthday of Queen Mother Ratna and the 41st Children’s Day. In other matches, Wilson School beat Swapna Vatika School 61-28 ; Himalaya International Model School beat Kathmandu Don Bosco 48-15; Suryodaya School beat Sunrise School 30-28; and Trungram School earned a walkover from Babylon School.

Inter-school shooting

LALITPUR: Nepal Shooting Association is organising the Inter-school Shooting Competition from August 30 at the Shooting Range, Satdobato to mark the fourth birthday of Navayuvaraj Hridayendra. The participating teams will start their preparations from August 17-28, said the association in a release issued here today.