The dramatic and awe-inspiring city of Pokhara recently hosted the 9th Women’s and 18th Men’s Nepalese National Handball Championship.

 

Running from 3-6 January, the four-day competition, played outside, took place in the south Asian country under the slogan ‘Handball for Women’s Empowerment’ and was supported by the Rotary Club of Pokhara Fishtail and Hongkong Beauty Institute Pvt. Ltd.

 

The second-most populous city of Nepal, behind Kathmandu, Pokhara is also a tourist hotspot as it sits at high altitude, lying on the edge of the world-famous Annapurna Range of mountains which include the three of the 10 highest mountains in the world – Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu.

 

Nepal’s Minister for Youth and Sports, Rajan KC, recently identified Pokhara as a growth city for sports in the country and with seven men’s and seven women’s teams taking part in the competition – including sides from the Nepal Army and Armed Police Force – the organisers of the championship, the Nepal Handball Association, who joined the IHF in 1984, are working hard to promote the game in the country.

 

In the women’s competition the Armed Police Force won the title, beating Nepal Army into second place, while Western Regional team took the glory ahead of the Nepal Army in the men’s competition. In addition to the trophies, the winning teams picked up cash prizes to further develop their handball programmes.

 

As handball continues to grow across the world it was no surprise that media coverage of the event was high not only at a localised level but in the national press too with numerous online, TV and newspapers featuring the event.

 

During the closing ceremony the Nepal Handball Association also launched their new website which can be found at www.handballnepal.org .

 

“We feel an immense pleasure that the Nepal Handball Association successfully organised this National Handball Championship,” said Tej Bahadur Gurung, President of the Nepal Handball Association. “The event was a big success and we have a strong conviction that this event is yet another brick in the wall of making handball more popular in Nepal.”

 

For further information on handball in Nepal, visit www.handballnepal.org. 

Photos: Nepal Handball Association