Sports
Nepal set to host first int’l basketball
Nepal will host their first ever international basketball tournament when the SABA Championship will kick off at the National Sports Council covered hall from May 13.India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and hosts Nepal will vie for the title of the prestigious tournament of the South Asian region.
The five-day championship will be played under round robin league format. The winners of the tournament will qualify for the FIBA Asia Championship and FIBA Asian Cup.
Nepal want improvement by finishing one place better than the last edition where they were restricted to bronze medal. Bangladesh are the defending champions.
“Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are beatable but we have to remain realistic against India because they are the better team from the rest. If we give our best against other teams, we can finish second in the tournament,” said coach Dinesh Nakarmi during a programme to unveil the national team.
Rajeev Joshi will lead Nepal who have retained Sadish Pradhan, Bikram Joshi, Binod Maharjan,
Binod Shrestha, Subrat Rajopadhyaya, Sushil Gurung and Sanjay Byanjankar. Rohit Lama, Ashim Shrestha and Bijay Burja will make their debut for the national side.