Nepal-China Boat Race Festival begins

By Ramesh Poudel,Pokhara, June 24:The Nepal-China Friendship Dragon Boat Race Festival began in Pokhara on Friday. Organised by the Nepal Tourism Board, the Embassy of China in Nepal and the Pokhara Metropolitan City, the festival, taking place on the Phewa Lake, was inaugurated by Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati. 

Two Nepali teams – NARA Dragon Boat Team and NRCA Dragon Team – were able to secure their places in the semifinals after finishing in the top four in both the 200-metre and 500-metre races held on the first day. 

In the 200-metre race, China's Sichuan Dragon Boat came first by crossing the set distance in 1 minute 48 seconds and 81 milliseconds. Nepal's NARA Dragon came second by finishing in 1 minute 53 seconds and 14 milliseconds. Yunnan Dragon Boat from China finished in 1 minute 55 seconds and 77 milliseconds and became third and NRCA Dragon Boat from Nepal finished in 1 minute 56 seconds and 92 milliseconds and became fourth.

The results were exactly the same in the 500-metre event. Sichuan Dragon came first by finishing in 4 minutes 38 seconds and 33 milliseconds, NARA Dragon came second by finishing in 4 minutes 47 seconds and 29 milliseconds, Yunnan finished in 4 minutes 53 seconds and 22 milliseconds and came third and NRCA finished in 5 minutes 2 seconds and 18 milliseconds and came fourth.

Other teams from Nepal, China and Singapore were eliminated.

According to Rabin Regmi, an official of the Nepal Tourism Board, the semi-finalists will again compete in separate 200 and 500-metre races on Saturday. The winner will receive a cash prize of Rs. 550,000.  Boats and all materials needed for the festival were brought from China via the Kerung border point. A team of 60 players and officials also arrived in Pokhara from China on a chartered flight on Wednesday.