Kathmandu, May 2

Nepal Yoga Sports Association is organising the first South Asian Yoga Sports Championship in Kathmandu from May 6-9.

Players from Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will take part in the Individual and team events of the Championship that offers a total of 35 gold medals, informed the organisers at a press meet today.

India have registered a huge team of 70 members, while Nepal will field 30 players. Likewise, Bangladesh are sending 17-member squad and Pakistan have registered five players.

The championship, which is being held under the auspices of International Yoga Sports Federation based in Switzerland, features four categories — 8-12yrs, 12-14yrs, 14-18yrs and 18-35yrs, informed President of Nepal Yoga Sports Association Surya Bahadur Karki.

The participants will have to perform a total of five Asans — one each from first three groups that will have five Asans each selected by the organisers and two as per the choice of the players. The eight-member jury — two each from Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh — will judge the performance of the participants and top three players will win gold, silver and bronze medals. In team event, each side will have five players and they will also follow the same procedures.

The Nepali team will be finalised in a couple of days. A total of 70 players are currently undergoing training and the NYSA will pick top 30 based on their performance for the championship.

Founder President of USA Yoga Federation Rajshree Choudhary, Secretary General of South Asian Yoga Sports Association and Vice-President of International Yoga Sports Federation Umang Dawn, Senior Vice-president of All India Yoga Sports Association Surajpal Singh and Vice-president All India Yoga Sports Association Surendra Singh Chauhan are scheduled to come to Kathmandu as observers of the championship.