11 Nepalese Taekwondo Players leave for Korea for 17 month training. The players will stay in South Korea for 17 months and go thourgh the extensive training aiming for the Olympic Qualifying tournaments for the 2008 Olympics to be held in Beijing. Nepal’s South Korean taekwondo coach Kwon Hyuk Jung was the person to manage the 17 month long residental programme for the players which is the first of it's kind for any Nepalese players. The players are also scheduled to take part in the 18th World Taekwondo Championship to be held in Beijing from May 17-22, followed by World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in UK in September and Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Vietnam in October.
The 11 players leaving for Korea are three-time South Asian Games gold medallist and two-time Asian games bronze medallists Deepak Bista (Welter weight), 10th SAG silver medallist Kumar Manandhar of Mahendra Police Club (Fly), Pitambar Upreti of Tribhuvan Army Club (Light), Ganesh Khadka of Mahendra Police Club (Bantam), Puspa Thapa (Fin) and Sunil Singh (Heavy weight). The 15th Asian Games bronze medallists Manita Shahi of Mahendra Police Club (Light) and Ayesha Shakya (Feather), 10th SAG silver medallist Padma Gurung (Fly), Bima Kumari Rai (Fin) and Abina Rai (Bantam) are the women players who made it through the selection tournament.
The players were selected through the qualifying tournament held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
