The 9th National Games is starting today in the tourist city of Pokhara.
Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun will officially inaugurate the 9th National Games, at Pokhara Stadium at 4:00 pm amidst a special ceremony.
The Vice President arrived to Pokhara on Thursday itself for the opening ceremony, while the Minister of Youth and Sports Maheshwar Gahatraj has also come to Pokhara. Players and officials have already arrived in Pokhara to participate in the mega sports event.
As many as 6,157 athletes are participating in the event, said Tankalal Ghising, member secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC). The tournament consists of 38 matches including 36 matches and two exhibitions. Seven provinces, three departments and 11 teams including NRNA will participate in the competition.
Member Secretary Ghising informed that all the preparations for the opening of the 9th National Games have been completed. In the opening ceremony, there will be a march-pass by Nepali Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police, cultural dances including 'Jhanki' of all seven provinces, drill performance by students, various cultural programs including fireworks. Similarly, preparations have been made for the march-pass with the mascots of all the 11 teams, and the lighting of the Olympic torch.
Although it will officially be inaugurated today, some games have already started. So far, Bagmati Province has won four gold medals and one silver, Tribhuvan Army Club of Nepali Army has won three gold medals and three silver medals and Armed Police Force has won one gold, three silver medals and six bronze medals. Similarly, Sudurpashchim has won one gold and three bronze medals, Nepal Police has won one gold medal, Province 1 has won three bronze medals and the host Gandaki Province has won one bronze medal. The total number of medals in the competition are 393 gold, 393 silver and 600 bronze medals.
The 9th National Games which was supposed to be held in 2077 BS has been delayed due due to covid-19 pandemic, local elections, among others. Earlier, on the concluding day of the 8th National Games held in Nepalgunj, it was informed that the 9th National Games would be held in Gandaki Province from March 5 to 11, 2021.
Recently, due to local elections, the date of the match had been tweaked again. Dipendra Bista, Coordinator of the 9th National Sports Publicity Subcommittee, informed that all kinds of preparations have been made to make today's opening ceremony special.
In the history of Nepali National Games since 2038 BS, Pokhara, which had the opportunity to hold the second edition of the National Games in 2040, after 39 years, got the chance to hold the 9th National Games at its home ground. On the day of the opening of the sports, the weather in Pokhara has cleared since this morning.
Rajesh Gurung, coordinator of the playground management sub-committee and member of the National Sports Council, informed that 26 of the 36 games will be played in Pokhara and the rest in other districts of Gandaki. All the districts of Gandaki, except Lamjung, Manang and Mustang, will conduct the games of the 9th National Games. The competition will run till October 19.
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