LAURELS: The victorious Indian community football team is presented with the trophy. Right: Debika KC sings one of her popular folk songs.


By Usha Wagle Gautam

The Indian community football team came up trumps by three goals in a friendly match against the Nepalese. Organised by Al Ahli Club last week, the match was held as part of a Nepalese cultural show in which popular singers like Pramod Kharel and Debika KC entertained the crowd.
Co-ordinated by Federation of Indian Football Team (FIFT) with Al Ahli Club, the cultural show was organised by Chitwan Youth Society (CYS). Over 5,000 sport enthusiasts watched the match and the winning team were awarded with a cash prize of $1,000.
Nepalese pop singer Pramod Kharel performed for nearly two hours. Kharel had performed during the friendly match between Nepal and the Philippines in the same venue two months earlier. Also working as a science teacher, Kharel is a frequent visitor to Qatar. “Today’s performance was much better,” as compared to the previous programme, Kharel said, “then, there was a problem in the sound system.” He also appreciated the performance of amateur Nepalese musicians.
Folk singer Debika KC performed two songs. A regular face in Nepalese cultural shows, KC has performed more than 10 times in the same venue, and is also expectedly performing on February 27. Doha-based singer Rym Lama performed two songs, one being a cover of Pramod Kharel’s hit song. Residing in Qatar since 2009, Lama has regularly performed at several venues.
After Lama’s performance, a friendly match between Al Ahli and Al Gharafa kicked off in which the former conquered over the latter by three goals. Three goals were accomplished in 10, 34 and 49 minutes.
After the match, more than 50 students of Birla Public School essayed a dance performance. Soon after, the match between Nepalese and Indian teams started. In the twelfth minute, a shot by Indian player Asif Saheer touched the net of the Nepalese side. After 20 minutes of his first goal, Saheer accomplished the second, and by 50 minutes, he managed to make a hat-trick.
Saheer is the former captain of the Kerala state football team and is India’s leading goal scorer in Santhosh Trophy, the country’s most prestigious football tournament.
The Nepalese side were represented by Somraj Mahato, Mohan Gurung, Rakesh Shrestha, Sanjeeb Khatiwada, Sudesh Shrestha, Suraj Century, Prabin Timilsina and Dinesh Raj among others. Likewise Jacklin Jecob, Libu Chacko, Anthas Salam, Nisam, Safaf, Bijo Paul, among others, were some of the players from the Indian side.
The Indian team has dominated the Nepalese in all the three matches held before. Players from both sides said such meetings help to bring the communities closer. According to former CYS president Ramhari Gaire, Al Ahli Club is co-ordinating matches with CYS for over a year now. Till date, the Nepalese team has played four times with the Filipino side and two times with the Indian community team.
Babu Chhatkauli, secretary of Nonresident Nepalese Football Team (NRNFT), said the Nepalese players attended training sessions. “For today’s match, Al Ahli Club provided three days of training to our team members,” Chhatkauli added.
Marketing manager of Al Ahli Club, Nasser Yaqoob praised the football skills of both the teams. According to him, a friendly match between the Nepalese and Bangladeshi teams is slated for February 27.
The names of lucky draw winners were also announced by singer Pramod Kharel on the same day. Among the winners, two received Samsung laptops, five got watches and many others received shopping vouchers worth QR200.
Ramesh Bista, who came from Wakrah to witness the match and the cultural show, was more than happy to listen to his favourite singers.