Prime open with wins

KATHMANDU: Hosts Prime College won both the boys and girls’ section matches on the inaugural day of the sixth Prime Cup Inter-college (+2) National Basketball Championship here on Saturday. Ravi Giri netted 31 points to guide the hosts to a convincing 84-31 win over Golden Gate in the boys’ section. Other winners included National Campus, Reliance Academy and Gyanodaya. National Campus edged Kathmandu Valley College 47-38 riding on 18 points from Adit Subba while Reliance laboured to a 53-48 victory over Ace with Rohit Karki scoring 25 points for the winners. Bikash Lama contributed 14 as Gyanodaya overcame White House College 48-28. In the girls’ section, Prime crushed National Campus 49-11 as Sujita Manandhar top-scored with 22 points. — HNS

Paragliding in valley

KATHMANDU: Kathmandu Paragliding and Hanggliding Company Pvt Ltd is introducing paragliding in the Kathmandu Valley from this month. The official opening of paragliding is set for January 6 at Kot Danda, president of the company Keshav Sthapit said on Saturday. The company will at present provide two services — tendium flights and paragliding trainings. Individuals interested in paragliding will be charged Rs 4,500 to get the feel of tendium flight. A licenced pilot will glide through the air while the paragliding enthusiast will assume the role of a passenger in the tendium flight. The company is also considering to conduct a piliot course in future. — HNS

Nakhipot, NPC win

Kathmandu: Nakhipot Youth Club and Nepal Police Club (NPC) won both of their matches on the inaugural day of the third Dhorpatan Blue Sky Cup IME Women’s Volleyball Championship here on Saturday. Nakhipot started the day with a 25-0, 26-24, 25-22 win over Third Division, while Nakhipot defeated Rai Team 25-20, 25-15, 25-18 in the other match. Nepal Police Club beat Nepal Volleyball Club 25-20, 25-23, 25-12 before outplaying Third Division 25-8, 25-10, 25-23. The winners earned three points each for a win, while the losing teams got one point apiece. In all, eight teams are taking part in the double-leg championship organised by Dhorpatan Training Centre. — HNS

Park likely to stay

MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung that he has a golden future at Old Trafford. Ferguson is optimistic that Park will sign a new contract to take him beyond his current deal which expires in 18 months’ time. “It is not on the radar screen but he will be offered a contract,” said Ferguson. “Ji has been fantastic for us and is one of our most consistent players.” — AFP

Bridge set to join City LONDON: Chelsea defender Wayne Bridge is set to join Manchester City after boss Mark Hughes confirmed on Friday that the two clubs have agreed an undisclosed fee for the England international. Bridge only recently extended his Chelsea contract until 2012. Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has to sell before he can buy in the transfer window and he admitted he would have no problem letting Bridge move on for a reported fee of around £12 million. — AFP