Curtains were raised as President Bidya Devi Bhandari declared the seventh National Games open amidst a two-hour opening ceremony at the Shahid Stadium on Friday.

“To see the Games staged after the massive earthquake is a bright side,” said Bhandari. The Games involve almost 4,000 athletes from five development regions along with Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC), Nepal Police Club (NPC) and Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club in 30 sports disciplines.

Four events—swimming, triathlon, bodybuilding and marathon—have already been held. President Bhandari also directed the government to increase the investment for sports as it relates to national pride and prosperity. “In the past few years, the success of cricket and football has motivated every player. The government has to invest more to make sure that the country gets standard stadium and other infrastructure,” said Bhandari.

Bhandari also hoped that the ongoing Games will play an influential role in preparing Nepal for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal and 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

The opening ceremony featured cultural shows from 24 different indigenous groups from the Eastern Region, march-past from players and performance from the Nepali army and school kids. Olympian Nagendra Poma, who hails from the region, lit the cauldron.

Cricket

Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club and Central Region opened with victory in the men’s cricket tournament in Baijanathpur grounds in Biratnagar. APF defeated Mid Western Region by 26 runs and Central edged Eastern Region by four runs. APF made 145-4 in 20 overs riding on a 45-ball 51 from Sandeep Sunar. Mid West, 

in reply, could only manage 119-5. Pranit Thapa Magar top scored for them with a 34-ball 40. 

In a low scoring match, Central Region made 120-9 on a back of 31 runs from Jitendra Thakuri. Three wickets from Hashim Ansari and two from Rupesh Srivastav saw Eastern restricted to 116-9. APF also opened their account with win in women’s cricket, defeating Central by 61 runs. Also, Eastern defeated Western Region by 66 runs. 

Football

NPC and APF set the women’s football title clash with easy victories in the semi-finals. NPC hammered Central Region 5-0 and APF prevailed over the battle between departmental teams winning 3-0. Meanwhile in men’s football, APF and TAC registered victories. APF routed Central Region 7-0 and TAC edged defending champions Far Western Region 1-0 in Dharan.