Nepal national para taekwondo coach Kabiraj Negi Lama has been awarded a sixth dan certificate from Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo headquarters.

Lama, one of the pioneers of para taekwondo in Nepal, received the certificate of sixth dan from the Nepal Taekwondo Association (NTA) general secretary Deep Raj Gurung on Tuesday. The certificate was issued on June 28 by Kukkiwon.

The 33-year-old was awarded one of the top gradings of the game by Kukkiwon after he met all the requirements for the course including successfully completing sixth dan conducted by NTA, producing the video proof of his proficiency in the game and submitting a thesis paper.

Negi Lama had penned a thesis on Para Taekwondo in Nepal. Negi Lama has been coaching para taekwondo players in Nepal since 2015. He has led Nepal's para taekwondo in different international sports meets in the capacity of coach.

He led in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Bahrain Asian Youth Para Games 2021, Riyad World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix 2022 and the Turkey World Para Taekwondo Championships 2021.

Under Negi Lama’s coaching, Shrijana Ghising earned a gold medal in the World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix Final in Saudi Arabia in 2022, while Bikram Shrestha got a bronze in the World Para Taekwondo in Turkey in 2019. Lama also guided Nepali players to gold, silver and bronze medals in the Asian Youth Para in Bahrain in 2021.