Nepali taekwondo wants to erase the 2010 Asian Games setback by clinching at least a medal this year in Incheon, South Korea.
Nepali players flew to Guangzhou, China, for the 16th Asian Games in 2010 with high hopes of maintaining their record of being the most successful Nepali sport discipline. But they failed to add to the 13 medals Nepal had won in the mega Asain sporting extravaganza.
The setback was blamed at the introduction of the electronic chest gears which the Nepali players were not accustomed of. While both medal hopefuls Manita Shahi and Ayesha Shakya failed to replicate their bronze medal- winning performance of 2006 Doha Games, two-time men’s bronze winner Deepak Bista had to pull out of the event due to injury from Guangzhou Games.
Four years down the line both Shahi and Shakya are still the best bet for the Nepali contingent. The star players still find trouble with new gears. “We train hard and are confident of our abilities. But the electronic guards is a stumbling block as we are still train wearing the outdated chest guards,” Shakya said. “Playing with an ordinary chest guard you produce the same sound no matter where you hit. But the electronic ones beeps only on specific scoring regions which is why we are far behind the rest of the world.”
The players rue the fact that Nepal has not been able to come to par with the way the game has transformed. Shahi says that there are not enough electronic chest pads to start with. “We also need an electronic system which shows the points after each hit so just putting on the new chest guards is also not enough,” lamented Shahi.
Nepal’s Korean coach, Kwon Young Dal, who has been grooming the team for the last eight month, says that his players face stiff competition but expresses high hopes on women players. The coach also informed that the players will star the last leg of their preparation in South Korea. “We will train with the local universities teams,” added Dal. “The training in Korea will be crucial where they will be tested against new and better opponents. That will help us adjust and improve on our weaknesses,” informed the coach.
Although the contingent for the Incheon Games, which is set to kick off from September 19 – is yet to be announced, 12 taekwondo players — six male and as many female – are set to represent Nepal in the 17th edition of the regional Games.
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