Trials and triumphs of a handball player

While handball was introduced in Nepal since 1982 AD, it still has not gained popularity compared to other sports in Nepal. Nepali handball team has represented the country in numbers of South Asian and Asian championships since 1987AD.

Bishal Basnet, a national handball player, says "We don't have tournaments and training camps in the nation for the sport." Explaining how it is one of the reasons why handball is not as developed or popular as others in South Asia, itself.

Basnet was 17 years old when he began his handball journey from Himalaya club. Reminiscing how he started, Basnet says that he had joined the local club where he started as a rookie.

"My height played a vital role for me to get selected in the team, but after a year of hard work and training I managed to be listed in the national team," he adds.

Basnet's first tournament was Danfe Kala handball tournament. Now, he is a three-times gold medalist with one bronze medal in national games. Till now Basnet has represented Nepal three times in South Asian Games. He was also part of the team when Nepal took part in the first South Asian Beach Games organized by Sir Lanka in 2011.

Apart from being a national handball player, Basnet owns a store named 'Manakamana sports and fancy store' and also 'Om Jay Bindabasini Tours and Travel' in Pokhara.

Explaining why he has a side hustle, Basnet says, "Only being a national player is not enough to earn a living. So, we must have other work to survive and to afford being a handball player." "My suggestion for the youngsters who are planning to become a player, it is indeed important to focus in the sport but also focus on education and have a business back up as well," adds Basnet.

Talking about his experiences as a handball player Basnet shares, "The reason Nepal is not developed in handball is because we do not have good support from the government and the trainings we get are not enough. The players are only officially trained before a tournament. This has led to many good players leaving the country as they don't see good future in Nepal." "I was sent for 45 days training to India once. If government starts focusing on the need of the players and their training sessions then I am sure we have a chance to get good results," he adds.

Basnet is planning to retire from being a handball player. Basnet says, "I think the 9th national game will be my last one." While he will focus on his business, he also wants to be a part of handball. Just like his first coach, Chitra Thapa, who inspired him to be a player, Basnet wants to inspire young players to do better in handball.

"Even though I may be retiring as a player I want to not only be a coach but a guide for others in this sport," he explains.

He hopes that government would provide more training facilities and opportunities to handballl players in the near future so that they can perform well.