Nepal’s Para-Taekwondo team has left for Tokyo to represent Nepal in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Palesha Govardhan of Para-Taekwondo is the sole representative from the country competing in the K-44 category in the 58 kg weight category.
Palesha, who got the opportunity to compete via wild card is accompanied by Coach Kabiraj Negi Lama and Olympian Deepak Bista as official. Apart from this, Saroj Shrestha in Chef de Mission, Bishwas Basnet in Team Officer, and Dr. Deepak Shrestha are also participating in the Paralympics.
Palesha, who has won a medal in the Asian Championships, also has experience of playing in the World Championships. She said she was training with the expectation of winning a medal. Palesha, who missed the qualifiers due to the travel ban during the corona pandemic was lucky to get a wild card.
Kelme, a sports equipment manufacturer, handed over the Paralympic team the same equipment as the Olympic team. Uttam Neupane, managing director of Kamaru Trading, the official dealer of Kelme, wished the team all the best. Apart from this, other organizations also bid farewell to the team with support.
Chef de Mission Shrestha thanked the Kelme family for helping the Paralympic team in a difficult situation and said that participation would not go in vain. An agreement was reached between Kelme and the Nepal Paralympic Committee on July 6. Kelme has sponsored the Paralympics for four years.
In all international competitions of the Paralympics, Nepali participants will use Kelme’s sports equipment. Kelmi had also sponsored the Nepali team for the ongoing Olympics in Japan. Kelme has 13 outlets across the country.
