Soothing touch in times of grief

Despite devastating earthquake, Nepal cagers put up a brave show

The Indian team might have dominated the recently concluded South Asian Basketball Championship in Bengaluru but it was the hoopsters from Nepal who had a special reason to rejoice.

After enduring the horrific earthquake that killed more than 9,000 people early this year in the Himalayan nation, the Nepal team came out brave to finish a respectable third at the meet. “It’s a good feeling,” said the Nepali skipper Sadish Pradhan. “Last time we had finished fourth (at the 2014 event) and this time we could better that by one position.

“This win means a lot not only to the players but also to our supporters back home. This is something we can be happy about after all the sorrow and pain we had to suffer a month back,” added Pradhan, dedicating their performance to the tragedy-struck country.
Though Nepal had begun their preparations for the South Asian meet months in advance, the training camp had to be called off after the devastating earthquake hit India’s neighbours. With no proper infrastructure in place, the team, later, resumed training in an outdoor set-up. “It was difficult. Our indoor courts were destroyed, which forced us to practice outdoors. I think if we had better courts and if our facilities wouldn’t have been damaged, the result would have been different,” said the skipper.

Need to improve

However, their coach Nakarmi Dineshchandra had other reasons to worry about. “We have to improve in many areas (of the game). Physically, we are not fit for this sort of competition. In two days we had to play five matches,” said the coach, asserting that his team will have to come out strong if they have to compete with the heavyweights in future.

Fortunately, the Nepali men’s team didn’t lose anyone in the tragic incident, but one of the members of the women’s side lost her family in the earthquake. “By God’s grace, none of our players lost anyone from their family, though some had their houses damaged. But a member of the women’s team lost her family members and house. It was very sad. It was our will to compete and our love for basketball that helped us overcome the tragedies,” added the coach.

Pradhan believed that the players were driven by their commitment to the game. “We could have been home with our families, but that’s not how we are. We are professionals. Like I said, we were training and then everything had to be called off. But, we knew that meet would go on even if Nepal didn’t make it. And we are players committed to the game. So, we were determined to participate and put up a good show,” said the captain.