Kathmandu, May 11

Nepal Weightlifting Association is organising the 19th Youth, 24th Junior Women’s and 31st Junior Men’s Asian Weightlifting Championship at the Army Physical Training and Sports Complex in Lalitpur from July 21-29.

Weightlifters from 30-35 countries of South Asia, East Asia, Middle East Asia and Central Asia are expected to take part in the championship which will be organised for the first time in Nepal, informed NWA President Ratan Tandon at a press meet.

Tandon said that the championship would help in the development of the sport in the country. “We got the opportunity to organise the championship after two years of request to the Asian Weightlifting Federation since we failed to hold the Senior Asian Women’s and Men’s Weightlifting Championship in 2015 due to devastating earthquake,” said Tandon. The youth section — 13-17 age group — features eight weight categories each — men’s 50kg, 56kg, 62kg, 69kg, 77kg, 85kg, 94kg and above-94kg and women’s 44kg, 48kg, 53kg, 58kg, 63kg, 69kg, 75kg and above-75kg.

Similarly, lifters in the junior categories — 15-20 age sections — will vie for the 56kg, 62kg, 69kg, 77kg, 85kg, 94kg, 105kg and above-105kg weight categories in boys’ section, while women’s section will be played in the 48kg, 53kg, 58kg, 63kg, 69kg, 75kg, 90kg and above-90kg weight categories. NWA General Secretary Parth Sarathi Sen Gupta said participating countries will be allowed to register only one player in each weight category. “But they can have two reserve players,” said Gupta.

He also informed that Nepal would not compete in all the weight categories due to lack of weightlifters in the country. “Currently we have only 16 lifters in the training camp and we will finalise them after a trial. However, it is confirmed that we will not take part all the weight category,” said Gupta.

The NWA General Secretary said organising the tournament with the limited resources was a challenging task. “The championship will be a test for us as we are planning to organise international events every year,” he said.

Gupta said that the estimated budget for the championship is Rs 17.6 million. “We will get 15 per cent each from registration of the participants, Asian Weightlifting Federation, and International Weightlifting Federation,” he said. “We will receive 25 per cent of the total budget from the National Sports Council, while we need to collect the remaining 30 per cent from the sponsors.”

Besides that NWA also received sports materials worth $36,000 from IWF. NWA had also received $20,000 from NSC and sports materials worth $66,000 from IWF, AWF and ZKC Company for the senior level championship two years ago.

Meanwhile, NSC Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista unveiled the logo of the championship. “The championship will be helpful for the promotion of tourism and cultural exchange. Nepali weightlifters will get opportunity to learn from foreign participants,” said Bista.