Lee Chungwoon had arrived in Nepal under the support from Incheon City Mayor as part of Nepal´s preparation for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. Lee Chungwoon will be the first foreign coach to train Nepali archers in several years. [break]
Lee Chungwoon will train Nepali national players, both male and female, during his stay in Nepal. Among the 12 male national players, only seven are attending the training currently. None among five women national archers are attending the training because of poor financial status of Nepal Archery Association (NAA).
"Only players residing around the capital are attending the training. Most of the national female players belong to places around Pokhara," NAA President Laxman Shrestha told Republica. "The association itself cannot afford the cost of accommodation and food and other expenses during their year long stay in Kathmandu."
"We have not got any support from the governmental for players´ training so far. We will soon request the National Sports Council to provide financial support for the training. The training will not only be helpful for the Incheon Asian Games but also for the upcoming 12th South Asian Games," Shrestha said.
The association has been providing food and other basic facilities for the players on its own. "We don´t have any source of income and the officials of the associations have been raising fund on their own for the training," informed Shrestha. "If we get financial support we will call up all national players for the training in Kathmandu."
The 43-year old Korean coach started to train Nepali archers from Tuesday in the premises of the Dasharath Stadium. "Nepali archery has potential to win medals at the international level but lack of able trainer and insufficient infrastructure is the problem we are face," says Shrestha.
Archery is a traditional game of Nepal and some communities still play archery during their festivals. "As archery is a traditional game, we have potential to win medals at the individual events," Shrestha added.
Despite lack of proper training facilities and infrastructure, Nepali archery had won gold medal in the individual event during the South Asian Archery Championship some three years ago, which backs Shrestaha´s claim. Nepal had also claimed bronze during men´s team event in the 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010.
Koran coach Lee Chungwoon, who has 10-year of experience as archery coach is hopeful that Nepali archery will improve under his training. "Nepali players are intelligent and good learners. Regular training and hard effort will certainly boost their performance," Lee Chungwoon said.
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