The team consists of 13 players -- six men and seven women -- two referees, two officials, a team manager and a journalist. Altogether 10 countries are competing in the event. [break]
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Norway, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Algeria and Kyrgyzstan have registered for the competition. The tournament is basically an exposure for the players but the coaches are expecting a few medals as well.
The competition is going to be tough for Nepal as team A of India which did not participate in the 11th South Asian Games (SAG) are participating in the event while Nepal´s team B that could not make up to the SAG are competing this time. India´s team A did not participate in the SAG as they competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Judo Championships held in Singapore.
“It´s going to be tough but we have some chances of winning medals,” said Saroj Maharjan who is competing in the under-60 kg weight category.
The Nepal Judo Association (NJA) sponsored all the expenses of the Nepali team. The championships is part of the “Judo for Peace Commission” formed by the International Judo Federation. Nepal is about to organize International Judo for Peace Championships from September 22-25 in Kathmandu later this year for which this competition serves as a base to invite foreign teams to Nepal, according to Deepak Harsha Bajracharya, president of NJA.
Nepali players participating in the championships are Saroj Maharjan (U-60 kg), Devendra Karmacharya (U-66 kg), Raj Bahadur Chand (U-73 kg), Shreeram Makaju (U-83 kg), Naresh Giri (U-90 kg) and Alian Maharjan (U-100 kg) in the men´s category.
In the women´s team are Sushila Adhikari (U-48 kg), Sarita Chaudhary (U-52 kg), Ranju Rai (U-57 kg), Phupu Lamu Khatri (U-63 kg), Indira Rai (U-70 kg), Sunita Bohara (U-78 kg) and Ganga Chaudhary (open weight category).
Senior coach Khadga Bahadur Dahal is the team manager. Dharma Shrestha and Indra Dangol will assume the roles of referees in the championships. Gyanendra Shrestha and Navanit Jha are the Nepali officials while Bharat Bandhu Thapa is in the team as a journalist.
Hari Babu Chaudhary, member secretary of National Sports Council (NSC), bade farewell to the players amidst a function at the NSC Hall, Tripureshwar.
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