football

Himal Kharel Jhapa - Jhapa XI Football Club’s forward Bishal Rai ‘A’ has bagged the Lifetime Achievement Award in football. Organisers of the Jhapa Gold Cup Football Tournament felicitated Rai with the lifetime achievement award ahead of the final match on Monday. The award was announced ahead of Jhapa XI’s title clash against Tribhuvan Army Club, which was eventually won by Army. The organisers handed him a Yamaha brand motorcycle. Jhapa Gold Cup organizing committee’s chairman Binod Basnet and senior vice president Balaram Karki handed over the keys of the motorbike to Rai. Prior to this, the organisers had handed over the lifetime achievement award to Jhapa XI’s former captain Prabesh Katuwal and midfielder Nagendra Mani Limbu.

By a Staff Reporter Jhapa- Tribhuvan Army Football Club have lifted the title of Jhapa Gold Cup for the fourth time. Holders Army defended their title by defeating Jhapa XI Football Club 2-1 in the final on Monday. Army have won the title of Jhapa Gold Cup in every edition except the first one. Meanwhile, it was the fifth time Jhapa XI finished second in the event. Tek Bahadur Budhathoki and George Prince Karki were on target for Army while Bimal Gharti Magar scored a goal for Jhapa XI. Army scored two first-half goals within a span of three minutes and maintained their lead to emerge victorious in the final held at Birtamode-based Domlal Rajbanshi Stadium. Tek Bahadur Budhathoki had given Army the lead in the 18th minute while George Prince Karki beat Jhapa’s goalkeepe...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Four top-flight clubs of Nepal have urged the football government body of Nepal to hold discussions on their issues raised by them during the upcoming meeting of the All Nepal Football Association on Tuesday. Issuing a joint statement on Sunday, the four clubs of the Martyrs Memorial A Division League made such appeal to ANFA. The four clubs including New Road Team (NRT), Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC), Three Star Club and Sankata Football Club unveiled the joint statement amid a press conference on Sunday.  They made such appeal to resolve the problems that are likely to surface due to the upcoming Nepal Super League (NSL). The clubs were of the view that the NSL is being held at a time when the players are still under contract with the cl...

Agencies Rafa Nadal roared back from 5-2 down in the third set to defeat American Sebastian Korda 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(3) in the second round of Indian Wells on Saturday and remain unbeaten in 2022, Reuters reported. According to the news agency, the Spaniard struggled to cope with a more aggressive approach from the 21-year-old in the second set after cruising through the first set in 35 minutes. Nadal's normally solid serve let him down in the third and he committed his seventh double fault to fall two breaks down in front of a stunned crowd before fighting back to force a tiebreak. The veteran was then much more composed and sealed the win when Korda's backhand landed wide. "Everyone knows this is my favourite place to play and it is amazing to play in front of all you guys...

Agencies Liverpool kept up the chase with Premier League leaders Manchester City by winning 2-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday while Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick as Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2. According to Reuters, Luis Diaz connected with a fine ball from Joel Matip to head Liverpool ahead in the 19th minute before Mohamed Salah scored from the spot, following a handball by Yves Bissouma, for his 20th goal of the season. Liverpool's win at Brighton's Amex Stadium was their eighth straight league victory and cut the gap to league leaders Manchester City to three points. Pep Guardiola's City side have 69 points with Liverpool on 66 but City can restore their advantage to six when they travel to Crystal Palace on Monday. Meanwhile, Ronaldo p...

Himal Kharel Jhapa - Nepal’s national football team’s forward Bimal Gharti Magar scored a brace as hosts Jhapa XI defeated Red Panda FC 5-1 to reach the semifinals of the fifth edition of Jhapa Gold Cup on Thursday. Besides Gharti Magar, Jhapa XI captain Bishal Rai ‘B’ and Bishwas Shrestha were also on target while Sikkim’s Red Panda FC gifted a goal to the hosts during the last quarterfinal match. Yogesh Magar scored a consolation goal for Red Panda from the spot in the 66th minute. Red Panda were awarded the penalty after Bishal Basnet of Jhapa fouled Aman Rasaili of Red Panda. Jhapa XI had taken an early lead with Bimal Gharti Magar’s goal in the 31st minute from the penalty spot. Red Panda’s Pinso Bhutia scored an own goal in the 55th minute while captain Bishal Rai added...

Agencies At half-time the headlines were already written, the BBC wrote about Karim Benzema’s hat-trick during the Champions League match against PSG on Wednesday night. Kylian Mbappe, arguably the biggest talent in world football right now, had done it again for Paris St-Germain, scoring against Real Madrid to put the French side 2-0 up on aggregate and in command of their Champions League last-16 second leg. But then Karim Benzema had other ideas, reported the British news agency. The striker stunned the visitors with a 17-minute hat-trick to turn the tie on its head and send Real into the quarter-finals. According to the BBC, it keeps the Champions League's most successful team on course for a record 14th title and once again underlined Benzema's status as one of th...

Agencies Roman Abramovich's attempt to sell Chelsea has been halted after the oligarch was sanctioned by the UK government as part of its response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. According to the BBC, the Russian, who has close ties to President Vladimir Putin, put the European champions up for sale after the threat of sanctions was raised in Parliament. The freezing of Abramovich's assets, which include Chelsea, means the club cannot sell further match tickets. The move is intended to stop Abramovich making money from Chelsea. The government has issued a special licence that will allow fixtures to be fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket-holders to attend matches, BBC further reported. Season-ticket holders can still attend games for which they have tickets ...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Tribhuvan Army Club’s forward Navayug Shrestha and defender Bikash Khawas have returned back to action after recuperating from their injury. Both Shrestha and Khawas made their comeback as substitute players during the club’s quarterfinal match against Manebhanjyang FC on Wednesday during the Jhapa Gold Cup which is being held in Birtamode. Both the players entered the pitch in the 78th minute as Tribhuvan Army Club were leading the match 3-0. Shrestha was sent in place of George Prince Karki while Khawas replaced Deepak Gurung. Khawas returned back to action after almost a year. He was injured during a friendly match against Kyrgyzstan’s Olympic team about 11 months ago. Despite his injury, he played an AFC Cup qualifier against Sri Lanka Poli...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) has announced a 25-member national football squad for Nepal’s upcoming friendly matches against Thailand. ANFA informed on Wednesday that chief coach Abdullah Al Mutairi has selected 25 footballers for the two matches to be held in Thailand. Nepali national football team is all set to play a friendly match against Thailand’s national team on March 24 followed by a match against a local club – Chonburi FC – on March 27. Both the matches will be held on Chonburi’s ground. ANFA has announced Kiran Chemjong as the captain of the 25-member squad. The team includes three goalkeepers. The other two custodians besides Chemjong are Tikendra Thapa and Deep Karki. The two friendly matches serve as Nepal’s preparat...