Nepal to face Sri Lanka in opening clash
Kathmandu, November 23
Nepal national team will play against Sri Lanka U-23 side in their first match of the Twenty20 cricket tournament under the 13th South Asian Games at the Tribhuvan University Stadium on December 3.
A total of five teams — national teams of Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan and U-23 sides from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — will take part in the tournament which will be played under round robin league. The organisers had divided the teams into two pools but the format was changed after India and Pakistan pulled out of the tournament.
As per the schedules release today, Nepal will face Bhutan on December 5 before taking on Maldives the next day. Nepal will wrap up the league campaign with a match against Bangladesh U-23 team on December 7. Top two teams will make it final, while the next two will fight for bronze medal. The final is slated for December 10.
In women’s section, four teams — Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives — will fight for gold medal at the Pokhara Stadium grounds from December 2-8. Nepal will open the league campaign with a match against Maldives on December 2 before facing Bangladesh two days later.
Nepal will then take on Sri Lanka in the final league round match. Top two sides will make to the final, while other two sides will contest in third-place payoff match.
Meanwhile, the Technical Committee of the SA Games said the preparation of the regional meet had reached the final phase. “We have finalised venues for all the sports disciplines and the technical manpower to conduct them,” said Technical Committee Convenor Ganga Bahadur Thapa. “We will use a total of 2,035 officials in the SA Games and 613 officials, referees, judged and jury members will come from other countries,” he added.
More than 5,000 delegates including 3,250 athletes will take part in the regional meet that features 26 sports disciplines. Nepal is fielding the highest number of athletes — 597 — and is the only nation to participate in all 26 sports disciplines.
The SA Games offers a total of 1,111 medals — 317 gold, 317 silver and 481 bronze — with swimming being at the top with 38 gold medals. Out of the 27 sports disciplines included in the SA Games, paragliding was cancelled as Nepal became the lone participant. As per the Games rules, a minimum of three teams are required to conduct any event.
