The ninth edition of the National Games is finally happening.

“A meeting of the Council of Ministers has approved the proposal of the Ministry Youth and Sports to hold the ninth National Games from June 5 to 11 in Pokhara, the capital and tourism city of Gandaki Province,” Youth and Sports Minister Maheshwor Jung Gahatraj said after the meeting.

The multi-sporting event was previously scheduled for March 2021 but the plans were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The eighth National Games were held in Nepalgunj in April 2019.

Although Nepal initiated the country’s mega sporting event in 1982 with plans to hold them every two years, the sporting authorities have been unable to stick to the schedule since the 1986 [third] edition.

With the 19th Asian Games only five months away, the more than a year-long delay in the selection of athletes has seriously affected Nepal's preparation for Hangzhou 2022.

“The Games will serve as the final selection of athletes for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games,” the minister added.

The Asiad is set to start from September 10 to 25 in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province. Hangzhou will be the third Chinese city to host the event after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.