Kathmandu, July 20

The Nepal Weightlifting Association is all set to host the Youth and Junior Asian Weightlifting Championship from July 23-29 at the Nepal Army Sports Complex in Lalitpur.

The championships features three categories — 19th Youth, 24th Women’s and 31st Junior. A total of 307 players from 33 nations will participate in the event along with 50 coaches and 119 officials, informed NWA General Secretary Parth Sarathi Sen Gupta at a press meet today.

The championship starts on July 23 with the opening ceremony following the Asian Weightlifting Federation Congress. The meetings of AWF Technical Committee, Medical Committee, Coaching and Research Committee, Commissions and the Executive Board are slated for Saturday, while the verification of final entry will also be done on the same day.

“We are almost done with the preparation to host the championships,” said Gupta. “As this is the first time we are hosting such a big event in Nepal, we are trying our level best to meet the requirements of the championships. We will not leave any stone unturned to make it a grand success,” he added. Gupta also thanked the International Weightlifting Federation for providing the NWA with equipment worth Rs 20 million for the championships. “We would not have been able to host the championships in the absence of the equipment,” he added.

Gupta also thanked IWF President Tamas Ajan and Asian Weightlifting Federation General Secretary Mohamed Hassan Jaloud along with other delegates for coming to Kathmandu to witness the event. “We are happy to welcome our international guests as their presence has added value to championships,” he said. IWF President Ajan said he was delighted to see the craze of weightlifting in Nepal. “We are having three events in different countries but I chose to come to Nepal to pay tribute to Nepal and its people. I’m stimulated to see the interest of Nepali people in weightlifting,” he said.

AWF General Secretary Jaloud said he was proud to organise the championships in Nepal. “We are having a record number of participants this time around and I think Nepal is the heart of Asia for Weightlifting,” said Jaloud, who is also the General Secretary of IWF. “Nepal could not host the Asian Senior Championship in 2015 because of earthquake and we are hoping for a high-standard event this time around,” he added.

Out of the total budget of Rs 17.5 million, the AWF is providing the NWF with $30,000, while the National Sports Council has allocated one million rupees including the team preparation. Nepal are fielding 13 lifters — nine men and four women — in the championships. “The players are in regular training since March and setting new national record is the main target of the Nepali lifters,” said coach Sanjay Shrestha.