Kathmandu, October 18:

A 28-member team of Nabil Three Star Club is leaving for Sikkim, India on Sunday to participate in the 30th Governor’s Gold Cup Football Tournament.

Three Star, who received a bye in the first round, will play against Boarder Security Force (BSF) in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. This would be the fourth appearance for the Three Star in the Governor’s Cup. Last year, they were beaten in the final by another Nepali ‘A’ Division outfit New Road Team (NRT).

Striker Surendra Tamang will lead the team. In the absence of six regular players — Yugal Kishor Rai, Anjan KC, Bishan Gauchan, Vijay Gurung, Sandeep Rai and Bikash Singh Chhetry who are on international duty at the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia — the Lalitpur-based club have hired two players from Friends Club and eight from ANFA Academy to fill the void.

Nur Raj Kafle and Pukar Gahatraj are from Friends Club, while Rohit Chand, Sabindra Shrestha, Shiva Shrestha, Prabin Karki, Anil Ojha, Jagadish Shrestha, Nirajan Malla, Rupesh KC are from ANFA Academy’s Under-19 and Under-17 squads. Apart from skipper Tamang, Kiran Chemjong, Sanjib Shrestha, Sanjib Budhathoki, Lok Bandhu Gurung, Rajendra Tamang and Santosh Sahukhala are the other regular Three Star players in the squad.

Former international and Three Star goalkeeper Upendra Man Singh is the coach of the team, while Three Star Vice President Nirmal Ratna Shakya is the team leader and Krishna Babu Shrestha the manager. The team also includes seven officials

and a sports journalist. Executive Chief of Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City Krishna Prasad Devkota and Three Star Club President Lalit Krishna Shrestha among others bade farewell to the team.