Sports
Open Judo for nat’l team
The eighth Ambika Bahadur Chhetri Memorial Open Judo Championships is set to from August 11 to 13 at the National Sports Council’s training hall in Satdobato.The eighth Ambika Bahadur Chhetri Memorial Open Judo Championships is set to from August 11 to 13 at the National Sports Council’s training hall in Satdobato.
The tournament, which features competitions in eight weight categories in both men’s and women’s sections, will finalise a new batch of players for national team. Additionally, it also picks up a judoka — men’s U-90kg weight category — for an international tournament, organisers Nepal Judo Association (NJA) informed at a press conference on Monday. A total of 140 judokas including 87 male and 53 female players have registered for the Championships.
Altogether 32 players — the winner and the runner up of each eight weight categories — will be selected for special training of the national team, while the men’s u-90kg winner will make the cut for the fifth International Judo Tournament Cup of President of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Currently, 23 judokas are undergoing national team training and they will be replaced by the top two finishers of each weight category of the tournament. “The Championships will also be helpful to prepare players for an Asian Games selection tournament. We are planning to hold Asian Games selection tournament in November/December and come up with long term preparations plan,” said NJA President Deepak Harsha Bajracharya.
The Asian Games will be held next year in Indonesia. Bajracharya also informed that International Judo Federation have assured that NJA can field two Nepali judokas in the World Junior Judo Championship to be held in Croatia in October later this year. “I was informed about this today itself. We are yet to discuss about this in our committee,” he said.
The family of late Ambika Bahadur Chhetri, former general secretary and vice president of NJA, has sponsored the tournament. Chhetri’s son Pramod Bahadur Chhetri handed over a cheque of Rs 175,000 to NJA Treasurer Bipin Prasad Shrestha during the programme. The expected cost of the event is Rs 500,000 and NJA will bear the remaining cost to run the event.