Nepal 8 spots up in the FIFA ranking

2016-Nepal's amazing keep running in the as of late closed Bangabandhu Goldcup, where they secured the title finishing a 23-year long dry spell, elevated the national football group eight positions in the Fifa World Ranking on Thursday.

With the change in the positioning, Nepal is currently at the 188th position. Nepal was before positioned 196th in the wake of losing matches with India and Sri Lanka amid the South Asian Games a month ago.

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Nepal begin campaign against Bhutan

Nepal will begin the 12th South Asian Games football campaign with a match against Bhutan here at the Nehru Stadium on Sunday.

The team, skippered by Biraj Maharjan, trained at the North East Railway Sports Complex grounds this morning. Coach Raju Kaji Shakya said the players would not play under pressure. “The Bangabandhu Gold Cup title has boosted the morale of the players and I have let them play freely,” said Shakya, the 1993 SAF Games gold medal winning captain. “The players are physically and mentally fit for the tournament.”

Nepali team has upper hand in head-to-head results with Bhutan. In their 12 meetings, Nepal have won 10 matches losing two. But striker Bimal Gharti Magar said the team would not take Bhutan lightly. “Bhutan is no long a weak team and we cannot afford to take them lightly,” said Gharti Magar. In their last meeting, Nepal had beaten Bhutan 2-1 in a friendly match in 2013.

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India too hot to handle for Nepal

Nepal proved to be no match for Indian batting master class as they were crushed to a seven wickets defeat in their U19 World Cup match in Bangladesh.

India never looked in trouble during the chase of 170 runs target set by Nepal. Rishabh Pant (78) and Ishan Kishan (52) smashed Nepali bowlers to all direction to put a 100 runs opening stand and despite.

Nepal claiming two wickets in two balls, Sarfaraz Khan sealed the match with a six in the 19th over.

Prem Tamang spared the Nepali side for an embarrassing defeat claiming two wickets. Sandip Lamichhane took the other wicket for Nepal. Nepal used seven bowlers during the 19 overs while desperately looking for a wicket and trying to tame to Indian run flow but to no avail.

Earlier, winning the toss and inviting to bat first, Nepal rode on Rajbir Singh’s 35, Sandeep Sunar’s 37 and Prem Tamang’s 29 to post the low total. Aarif Sheikh also added 26 runs while all other Nepali batsmen failed to reach a double digit score at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Despite the loss, Nepal still qualifies for the quater-finals as runner ups of Group D.

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ICC U-19 World Cup: Nepal colts pull off a coup

Nepal stunned Test giants New Zealand by 32 runs in their opening match of the ICC U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh to regain their status as giant killers in the youth cricket’s global showpiece.

Invited to make the first use of the pitch, Nepal made 238-7 in 50 overs and bowled New Zealand out for 206 in 47.1 overs. Nepal captain Raju Rijal led from the front with a composed 65-ball 48 and put on 61 runs for the fifth wicket with Aarif Sheikh.

It was Nepal’s second win over New Zealand and seventh overall against a Test playing nation. Nepal had defeated the junior Black Caps by one wicket to win the Plate Championship final in 2006. It was Nepal’s first victory over a Test playing nation since they humbled Zimbabwe by 99 runs in the 2008 Plate quarter-finals.

Once given a moniker of ‘giant killers’ in the wake of a string of stunning results against big guns like South African (twice), Pakistan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, off late Nepal have been struggling even to qualify for the World Cup. They had missed out on the 2010 edition and finished 13th in 2012 before failing to qualify for the 2014 event.

While Afghanistan, Fiji, Canada, Namibia and Scotland made it to the finals as champions among non-Test playing teams from their respective regions, Nepal needed to win the Global Qualifiers to secure the last available berth in the 16-team event in Bangladesh. But with Thursday’s win, Nepal have not only reclaimed the ‘giant killers’ tag but also opened a chance to enter the second round. Nepal will play Ireland in their next game in Group D which also features three-times U-19 champions India.

Current Nepal national team skipper Paras Khadka, who was part of the team that defeated New Zealand in 2006 Plate Final, was as excited as the rest of the country by Nepali colts’ latest exploit.

“We are back with what we were known for in U-19 cricket. It proves we have inherent cricketing talent which can do wonders provided there are exposures and opportunities,” said Khadka.

“It’s an amazing feeling to beat a Test nation because we cannot be compared with them in terms of infrastructure and resources. The boys have given a massive start to the tournament but there is still a long way to go,” he added.

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Nepal register 1st football victory after 2013

Nepal won an international match after two years at the expense of Sri Lanka at the Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Nepal striker Bimal Gharti Magar’s early score was enough for Nepal to win the game against their South Asian rivals Sri Lanka.

It was the first victory of Nepal in any international football match after their 2-1 win over India in the SAFF Championship in Kathmandu in 2013.

In today’s match, Nepal, however, missed a host of chances to double the lead as strikers failed to capitalise on the opportunities.

Nepal defeated the Sri Lankans to extract the revenge as they had lost an important SAFF Suzuki Cup group game against the Lankans in the dying minutes of the game.

With the victory today, Nepal top the group A score table with four points after two games and  Sri Lanka languish in the bottom of the chart and are on the way back to the Indian Island.

Earlier, Nepal had played a goalless draw with the Felda United of Malaysia on Saturday, January 8.

After being declared the Man of the Match, the sole scorer Magar, speaking at the presentation ceremony, thanked his teammates and his family for their support, looking forward to seeing the next challenge against the hosts on Friday.

Nepal would play their next match against Bangladesh on Friday.

Nepal’s participation in this tournament is expected to add impetus for the upcoming South Asian Games in India next month.

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Chaulagain, Shakya, Karki secure places

Ayesha Shakya (Bista), Yan Kumari Chaulagain and Rejina Karki on Monday secured tickets to the 12th South Asian Games (SAG)-slated for February 6-16 in India—after winning their respective weight division finals during the selection tournament.
Representing the National Team, Shakya made booked a place for the regional sports meet for the third time in succession after seeing off the challenge from Sangita Bashyal of Nepal APF Club 8-1 in women’s below 62kg category final. Shakya is the 2011 SAG gold medallist and the 2006 Asian Games bronze medal winner.
Chaulagain also earned a place in the SAG for the third time in succession but will be competing for the second time. She had to pull out at the last moment in the 10th edition due to jaundice. On Monday, the Nepali Army player dispatched Sita Tamang of Nepal Police Club (NPC) 11-2 in the below 49kg weight division final.
Karki of NPC, meanwhile, will make her debut in the SAG after securing a berth in the below 46kg category. She beat Sarita Shrestha of Western Region 1-0 in final.
Two more berths are available for SAG in the women’s category. Gyani Chunara of National Team and Renu Lama of Mid-western Region will battle it out for the below 57-kg place, while Nima Gurung of NPC and Namrata Tuladhar of Nepali Army will clash for the below 53kg category honours on Tuesday.
Along with five female, Nepal are set to field eight male taekwondo players in the SA Games. Prem Rana, Shekhar Upretti, Naresh Chaudhary and Chandra Bahadur Rana Magar made it to the men’s below 54kg weight division semi-finals on Monday.
Ranjan Shrestha, Naubalak Chaudhary, Sunil Paudel and Manmohan Bhattarai secured the last four places in the men’s below 58kg category, while advancing to the semi-finals in the men’s below 63kg event include Bir Bahadur Mahara, Niraj Deuba, Kiran Bahadur Ale and Ajay Gurung.
Padam Tamang, Mohammed Besh, Anil Moktan and James Pradhan entered the men’s below 68kg category semi-finals. Nischal Man Shrestha, Ram Dutta Bhatta, Prabin Shrestha and Bharat Bohara advanced to the below 74kg semi-finals, while Anoj Pujari, Nirajan Khadka, Jay Prakash Khatkhenan and Sakshyam Karki also entered the below 80kg semi-finals. Durga Thapa, Anish Maharjan, Bipin Karki and Ramhari Mahat complete the below 87kg category semi-final lineup. The eventual winners in each of the weight divisions are assured of places in the SAG.
 Taekwondo have so far provided Nepal 24 gold medals in the SA Games.

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