Kathmandu, July 21:

Nepal Basketball Association (NeBA) today handed over the scholarships to 24 basketball players in two colleges.

Xavier International College and Trinity International College provided the 100 per cent scholarships to the players who were selected by NeBA from its talent hunt pragramme, Basketball Training Camp 2008 held at the National Sports Council from April 23 to June 24, said NeBA at a press conference on Monday. A total of 80 trainees had enrolled

the training camp, which was conducted by chief coach Dinesh Nakarmi and assistant coach Ramesh Adhikari.

Both the colleges provided scholarships to a team of eight boys each. “The scholarships will be for two years until they pass the 10+2 and it’s a 100 per cent scholarship as there will be no hidded fees in that,” said NeBA Treasurer Dinesh Thapa.

Among the selected boys for Xavier International College are Deepak Pun, Ayush Thapa, Manish Man Shrestha, Saugat Lamsal, Ijan Dangol, Jems Dongol, Raj Kumar Maharjan and Pratik Karki. The boys who got scholarship at Trinity International College are Aangnima Lama, Bijay Maharjan, Hirakaji Maharjan, Manish Lama, Manish Shrestha, Sunom Shrestha, Arun Ghimire and Ashish Dongol.

NeBA President Lama Tendi Sherpa said that the association was planning to go to southern part of the country for talent hunt. “We will be selecting around 30 players (7-12 years of age) every year from districts and will provide scholarships to them. In this way we will be able to produce 150 talented players in five years,” he added.

Congratulating the selected players, NeBA General Secretary Mahendra Man Shakya thanked the colleges for supporting the association’s plans and programmes. Former Nepali national football team skipper Hari Khadka, who is currently associatied with the Xavier International College, said: “The college has been providing scholarships to cricketers and footballers in past years and this year we decided to provide the scholarships to the basketball players.”