The lure for basketball has remarkably soared in Dharan since the construction of indoor basketball court at the Provincial Stadium here.

With the support of the National Sports Council—the top governing body of sports in Nepal—Dharan Sub Metropolitan City has completed the construction of the only basketball facility in Dharan-16.

Previously, the Sports Council had constructed a mini-covered hall with the objective of hosting events like taekwondo and wushu. “Dharan Sports Development Committee injected its own money to develop to construct the basketball court and transform the mini-covered hall into a multi-purpose facility,” said Subash Rai, Chairman of Dharan Sports Development Committee. He said the committee has invested Rs 2 million to give a facelift to the old facility.

Rai said since the new basketball court came in operation, youths of the area have been flocking the facility to take up the sport. The basketball court has a seating capacity of 250 and is well-lit to be used in the evenings as well. It also has a changing room for players and separate toilets for men and women.

President of Dharan Basketball Association Suraj Lama says that to see the rising number of basketball enthusiasts in the Sub Metropolis is encouraging for him and the association.

Deputy Mayor of Dharan Sub Metropolitan City Manju Bhandari officially inaugurated the basketball court three days ago. Bhandari said: “Above everything else, the court was constructed in time for the national team to undergo training for the impending 13^th South Asian Games.” Nepal is scheduled to host the mega event on December 1-10 in Kathmandu.

Welcoming the Sports Council’s decision to conduct the national teams’ closed camp training in Dharan, Rai said, “Setting up a national team basketball camp will only fuel more interest in local youths. In the long run, we hope to make Dharan a hub to produce future stars.”