The two Nepali players were accompanied by athletics official Radha Krishna Bista. Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) member Jyoti Rana is the Chef-de-mission of the Nepali team in the Youth Summer Games. Khadka will compete in the women’s 3,000m race while Dhami will take part in the men’s singles badminton, informed the NOC.

Youth and Sports minister Purushottam Paudel, NOC President Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, NOC General Secretary Jivan Ram Shrestha among others bade farewell to the team on Wednesday.

NOC General Secretary Shrestha said that Nepal were awarded four quotas for the Nanjing Games. But boxer Sushant Manandhar and archer Rashmi Darlami were denied participation by the organisers—International Olympic Committee—as they “did not meet minimum qualification criteria.”

“Manandhar and Darlami were selected for the Youth Games but they were denied participation because they did not meet the minimum requirement set by the IOC,” said Shrestha without elaborating the matter.

Irrespective of how Nepali players fare in China, the team will have to remain in the Olympic village until the closing ceremony, informed Shrestha.

“We had the experience of the first Youth Olympic Games (Singapore, 2010) and it stressed more on the exchange of cultures amongst the participating teams rather than the fierce competition itself,” said the NOC general secretary hoping that the exposure would help the players grow as proper athletes in future.

Minister Paudel said the Nepali players should take the Youth Olympics participation as a great opportunity and convert it into a matter of pride. “Its an opportunity but your remarkable performance there (Nanjing) can also turn into a great pride,” added Paudel.

The NOC President Pradhan asked the Nepali team to think about the national pride during their stay in Nanjing. “You will be representing Nepal and not any particular sports discipline there (China),” added Pradhan. “So I hope you all will be mindful of your behaviour and discipline throughout the Games.”