Football frenzy | Maiidan | wavemag.com.np

SHASHANK SHRESTHA

Yopesh Pradhan lifts the trophy as the Media team carries him in celebration.
Two weeks after the World Cup matches started in Germany, the WAVE Kick Off Cup practice sessions began at Himal Media's office in Hatiban. Sponsored by UFO with support from Fursad.com, Rosemary de Cafe, Little Media and Classic FM, the event was organised to raise money for Mayadevi Orphanage in Rupandehi. Celebrities and members of media gathered every morning for a week to warm up, stretch and play football.

DAY ONE Monday, 19 June: Most players showed up an hour before the stipulated time. The excitement was palpable. Nirnaya da' NSK sprained his foot while attempting to hit a goal and sat out the rest of the session. Singer Rajiv Lohani was over exhausted. The others were enthusiastic but easily tired. Sudin Pokharel volunteered to referee and coach since he couldn't play due to an old injury.

DAY TWO Tuesday, 20 June: Malvika Subba, the first female player to show up for the practice, joined the game. Rijju of Looza put up a good performance as did Saayaas's members. Nepal FM's RJ Uttam Thapa was so elated with the football idea that he invited everybody to breakfast at his Juice Bar in Kumaripati next morning. Suraj Singh Thakuri had his first injury. The practice had mixed teams.

SHASHANK SHRESTHA

Deepesh Kishor Bhattarai tackles Uday Sijapati while Rajiv Lohani runs for the ball.
DAY THREE Wednesday, 21 June: Two more players were badly injured: Kantipur Television's Yopesh Pradhan and Nirmal Gartaula of Mt 8848. Nisha Adhikari of Kantipur Televison came to cover the practice match for her programme. The media was taking it calm. Once the game was over, everybody headed out to Juice Bar to cool off.

DAY FOUR Thursday, 22 June: Asif Shah finally joined the practice even though he had tonsillitis. "I thought I wouldn't be able to play," he had explained. In excitement while scoring a goal, Suraj Singh Thakuri sprained his neck and nearly fractured his leg. A lot of players were sitting along the sidelines with body aches and injuries by now. Badri Pangeni joined the game and gave everybody a run for their money.

DAY FIVE Friday, 23 June: Komal Oli and Preeti Kaur joined the practice sessions. Yogeshwor Amatya and Anup Prakash gave live interviews about the match and practice sessions for Star FM from the field. Even though it rained that morning, more than 30 people showed up for practice.

KIRAN PANDAY

Narendra and Vinay Shrestha ready to jump for the ball.
D-DAY Saturday, 24 June, Dasrath Stadium: The players practiced and warmed up for about two hours before the WAVE Kick Off Cup's final match at 2.30 PM. Players from the media marched out in red jerseys while the celebs wore blue ones. A special jersey had been made for model and choreographer Prashant Tamrakar because the normal size didn't fit. Nirnaya wore XXL size while Mistah K of Nepsydaz wore the usual size. Some spectators were heard commenting, "He doesn't look like a hip hop rap star now."

The FIFA theme was played as nearly 70 players from both teams marched out on the field. The Celebrity side was made up of singers (folk, pop, rock, hip-hop), musicians and models while the Media team was made up of reporters, TV anchors, radio jockeys, photojournalists, cameramen and visual editors. Yogeshwor Amatya led the celebrities with Babu Bogati as manager and Anup Prakash captained the media team with DA 69 as manager. At the sound of the referee's whistle, the battle began.

Within the first 10 minutes, Sonam Lama of KTV scored a goal but Yogeshwor Amatya didn't wait to score either. Bikash Karki (goalkeeper) for media couldn't save it and it was a draw. Model Niraj Shakya, the tallest player on the field shot a fantastic hit but it just missed the post. Amar Subba of Mt 8848 was the key defender and Suhrid Jyoti, among the best midfielders, of the Celeb team. The media retaliated with a goal from Uttam Thapa of Nepal FM.

Niraj Shakya tackle Sangya Singh.
Female participation was low with only seven women: Sangya Singh, Komal Oli, Preeti Kaur, Samjhana Rauniyar, Richa Sharma, Malvika Subba and Kabita Gautam, but they put up a pretty good game. Preeti tackled the ball from Malvika and Sangya gave the sport all she had. Komal Oli had more stamina than the other girls and gave the guys a good run. Badri Pangeni collided with her and both fell flat on the ground while trying to tackle the ball. He also scored a goal for his team immediately after he entered the field and his somersault in celebration was a wow in itself. But Media's Yopesh Pradhan retaliated with a free kick that was a solid hat-trick despite his injured legs. Pasang Lama of Merosports.com and Subel Bhandari, WAVE's former events manager contributed two more goals for the media. Meanwhile Oz Shrestha of Mt 8848 and Yogeshwor Amatya added two more but it wasn't enough. The final score was Media 7, Celebs 4.

The panel of judges witnessing the game were Raju Shakya, Pradeep Maharjan, Bal Gopal Maharjan and Kalpana Piya Shrestha. They voted Yogeshwor Amatya as Man of the Match, Sangya Singh and Komal Oli as Women of the Match, Yopesh Pradhan as Highest Scorer, Suhrid Jyoti as Most Stylish Player and Anup Prakash as Spirit of the Game. All the players were invited to an aftergame party at Himalmedia's office. WAVE raised Rs 35,000 through the event, which has been handed over to Mayadevi Orphanage for Pappu Thapa's medical treatment along with clothes and toys that Mt 8848 donated for the children. Eleven-year-old Pappu was in a bombing incident with two other boys, Gopal and Rambe Kumal. Gopal died on the spot while he and Rambe were severely injured.

CHECKPOINT

1. When and where did the first World Cup Football take place?
2. Name the country which will host the next World Cup?
Send your entries to letters@wavemag.com.np. Two lucky winners will win free pizza and skating coupons from AKA at Kamal Pokhari.