Kathmandu, February 2:

The American Embassy here has denied visas for eight Nepali players who were selected for the US Open Taekwondo Championship slated for February 12-15 in Las Vegas.

According to the taekwondo sources, only Bima Rai was granted visas to participate in the tournament.

Two female players — Yan Kumari Chaulagain and Sabina Maharjan and four male players — Ramesh Kumar Shrestha, Pushpa Thapa Magar, Binod Thapa and Aashish Maharjan along with coach Indra Man Tuladhar and manager Bimala Bhandari were rejected the visas by the embassy.

The 10th South Asian Games silver medallist and 15th Asian Games bronze medallist Ayesha Shakya and women’s team coach Deepak Bista have already acquired the visas for the US. Bista, who is also participating in the International Referee Seminar to be held there from February 7-10, is leaving on Tuesday.

Coach Tuladhar confirmed the visa denial by the embassy and told The Himalayan Times that he had reported the Nepal Taekwondo Association General Secretary Deep Raj Gurung about the rejection. “I have already informed it to our General Secretary (Gurung) and we will have not decide what to do next,” added Tuladhar. When contacted, however, Gurung said he was unaware of the development.