Rupak Memorial Week

Former FIFA (Federation of International Football Association) referee Late Rupak Sharma was one of the most prominent personalities in the History of Nepali sports. To commemorate his 53rd birth anniversary, Rupal Memorial Foundation (National Talent) shall be hosting Rupak Memorial Week to honor this respected person.

Late Rupak Sharma was not only actively involved in promoting sports in Nepal but was equally active in encouraging education, art and social deeds. Magh 10 will henceforth, be celebrated for which the event has already been planned together with various other programs throughout the week.

On Magh 7 and on Magh 8, Friendship Global Award Writing Competition (School Level) is taking place at Rupak International Higher Secondary School, Kupondol at 11 am. On Magh 9, again Friendship Global Award Writing Competition (School Level) will be held at Rupak Smriti Pratisthan Bhawan, Satdobato at 11am. On Magh 10, Rupak Smriti Pratisthan Bhawan at Satdobato will be inaugurated at 11am and on the same occasion, his statue will also be unveiled. On Magh 10 itself, Aasish Malla, veteran play artist will be honored for his contribution to the development of theatre. An art exhibition on the life and times of Rupak Sharma has also been scheduled. On Magh 11, a friendly football match is planned at the Stadium as well. This match will start at 1:00 pm. Come Magh 12, and there will be a cultural event taking place at Hotel Annapurna, Durbar Marg. This program will commence from 5 pm onwards. On Magh 13, Rupak Memorial Peace Walk will take place. This will start at 8 am from Jawalakhel, Lalitpur Ground and will end at Rupak Smriti Pratisthan Bhawan, Satdobato. On the other hand, at the Rupak International Higher Secondary School, sports week has already started and will last till Magh 6.

Third bronze for Nepal; Shakya is the winner

Ayesha Shakya won the third bronze medal for Nepal in the ongoing 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Shakya had to be satisfied with the bronze medal in the 59-kg category of Taekwondo after she was defeated by a Vietnamese player Thi Hoai Thu Nguyen in the semi finals.

Shakya, a silver medalist at the Tenth South Asian Games held earlier this year, had reached semi finals after defeating a Chinese player.

She became the third Nepalese player to win a bronze medal in the Doha Asiad. Earlier, Manita Shahi had won the medal in 63-kg category while Deepak Bista had won the medal in the 78-kg category.

Meanwhile, runner Arjun Bahadur Basnet finished at the 11th place in the marathon tournament by clocking 2 hours 23 minutes and 55 seconds. A Qatari runner won the marathon 11 minutes and 11 seconds ahead of Basnet who had won a silver medal in the marathon at Tenth South Asian Games.

Yuvraj Singh to make Bollywood debut

Aspiring musician Yuvraj Singh will soon make his debut in Bollywood.

Singh's cine career will take off through Prakash Jha's Love Story and is an Entertainment One production.

A multi-faceted personality, Yuvraj not only plays cricket, but loves to write, compose music and plays the guitar with felicity. He was the lead guitarist for the Music Society in St.Stephen’s College.

Completing his higher studies in the UK, he trained himself as an actor and presenter in a renowned acting school.

In Mumbai, he met several directors and producers, before Prakash Jha zeroed in on him to hone his acting talents.

Yuvraj performs with the electrical, acoustic and Spanish guitars.Ballads, fusion, metal and heavy strumming are his preferences.

Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman, Steve Vai, Jimmy Page, Pink Floyd, etc are a few artists that he admires. Yuvraj also likes Led Zeppllin, Ozzy Osburne,AXL Rose, Robert Plant, Sting and many more.

"I want to do roles that are symbolic of the social, cultural, political, economic and historical significance. The role should have an impact and be meaningful to the society," Yuvraj Singh said.

Singh says he wants to perform different roles during his acting career, and would not like to be branded in a particular milieu.

Singh is a believer in destiny, and is quite philosophical about what life will eventually dish out for him.

"I have to create a mark in the world of cinema," he says.

Bista bags second bronze for Nepal

Deepak Bista bagged the second bronze medal for Nepal at the ongoing 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Bista bagged the bronze medal in 75-kg category by defeating a Kuwaiti player in the quarter final on Friday. He, however, lost to a Qatari player in semi final, in what the Korean coach Kwon Hyouk claimed as biased refereeing.

After Manita Shahi won the first bronze medal on Thursday, this was the second medal for Nepal.

Bista is one of the most successful taekwondo players of Nepal. He has already won gold medal thrice in the South Asian games. He had also won a bronze medal in the previous Busan Asian games held four years ago.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Kanchhi Maya Koju completed her 10,000 meter running in 37 minutes 59.76 seconds. A silver medalist at Tenth South Asian Games, Koju came last in the race in Doha, which was won by a Japanese runner.

Shahi bags first medal for Nepal in Doha Asiad

Manita Shahi became the first Nepalese athlete to bag any medal in the ongoing 15th Asian Games being held in Qatar, Doha.

Shahi won the bronze medal in the 63-kg category of Taekwondo on Thursday. She was defeated by an athlete from Chinese Taipei Wen Su Li in the semifinals. Earlier she had trounced Sangya Wangmo of Bhutan in a quarterfinal match after defeating Varsah Bende of India in the first round.

Shahi is a gold medalist at the Tenth South Asian Games held recently in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

However, other medal aspirants failed to win any medal on various categories of Taekwondo on Thursday. Among them include Ramesh Kumar Shrestha, Kumar Manandhar and Yan Kumari Chaulagain. On Friday also, Nepalese athletes will be taking part in Taekwondo competition. Taekwondo, karate and judo are few events in which Nepalese athletes are expected to bring home some medals.

Akhtar and Asif cleared of Doping Offences.

A Pakistan tribunal has cleared cricket fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif of doping offences and lifted their long-term bans.

Akhtar had been banned for two years and Asif for one year in early November after the pair tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone.

The cricketers were exonerated when the panel ruled that they had not had sufficient warning the supplements they were taking could be contaminated by the steroid.

Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board-appointed appeals tribunal Justice Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, announcing the decision in Karachi, said the three-member commission had established that Akhtar and Asif were never advised against taking supplements.

Nor were they provided with any international or local publications warning them against the use of supplements and anti-doping measures.

"It is the considered view of this appeals committee by a majority of 2-1 that Shoaib and Asif have successfully established that they held an honest and reasonable belief that the supplements ingested by them did not contain any prohibited substances," the verdict said.

Both the bowlers had pleaded innocent to the charge of taking banned substances intentionally to enhance their performances and recover from injuries.

Shoaib and Asif had argued that they didn't commit any doping offence as they were not informed about the dangers of the supplements they were using being contaminated with banned substances like nandrolone.

Ganguly back in Indian Test squad

After nearly a year in wilderness, Sourav Ganguly made a dramatic comeback to the Indian Test team in the wake of the side's disastrous performance in South Africa and calls for bringing back experienced players.

VVS Laxman has replaced Virender Sehwag as the vice-captain of the Test side.

While Md Kaif, Ajit Agarkar and Suresh Raina made an exit, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan returned to the Test squad after a long break. Sreesanth and VRV Singh have also been included in the team.

The decision to recall Ganguly was taken by the national selectors, who, significantly, met BCCI President Sharad Pawar at his residence before their meeting to select the 16-member squad for the three-Test series against South Africa beginning on December 15.