Aiming for gold

September 11, 2012Posted inSports8 Comments
Our population base is small. And we lack the resources. That’s why it’s almost impossible to bring home medals in any sport from any recognized international competition. But what if we had about 1500 sportsmen, spread across the country, all using the latest equipment, and all putting in long training hours to compete in one national tournament? If that were to happen, we would then surely achieve the best international standards at that sport. In fact, that did happen, very recently. A record-breaking 260 teams, consisting of 1,560 archers, took part in the Yangphel Open Archery Tournament. The tournament,…

Big blue

February 17, 2012Posted inSports3 Comments
My oversized jaws continues to be the brunt of many jokes. Replying to my last post 'nagilabgey' answered that "OL's jaws" are the second largest structure in Thimphu! My jaws are big, but they're not that big. They certainly are not the second biggest structure in Thimphu. That distinction belongs to the BBS radio tower in Sangaygang. The BBS tower, measuring about 41 meters, was built in the 1980s to transmit shortwave radio waves. Since 1999, the tower has been used to broadcast TV and FM signals in addition to shortwave radio. Actually, I had another structure in mind…

Tour of the dragon

September 20, 2011Posted inSports10 Comments
This year’s Tour of the Dragon was a grand success. At 2:00 AM on Saturday, 45 riders representing 15 teams took off from the town square in Chamkhar and raced towards Thimphu. 28 of the riders managed to complete the grueling one-day, 268 km mountain bike race from Bumthang to Thimphu. Last year’s fool – the rider who fell off his bike in Trongsa, but stubbornly rode on to complete the race – fared better this time. He didn’t fall. And he clocked a decent 14 hours 16 minutes to complete the race. But this year’s Tour had better…

Deserving parents

August 3, 2011Posted inSports14 Comments
Dago Pema Retty deserves to be congratulated. Dago, who is a Class VII student at Pelkhil School, recently participated in the 9th International Clubs Open Taekwondo Championship in Vietnam. He bought home a bronze medal from that tournament. Dago’s parents, Aum Pem Dem and Gyambo Sithey, also deserve to be congratulated. They spotted their son’s interest in taekwondo, and went out of their way to cultivate that interest. They hired a private coach for their son. And even though Dago was the only Bhutanese participant in the Vietnam tournament, they sent him there, and they bore all the expenses.…

3-on-3

May 23, 2011Posted inSports2 Comments
Ghandians, Dudly Bros, Usuals, Jachung, Jaguars, Local Z, Pvt Schools and Blue Formers – these are jazzy names of the 3-on-3 basketball teams that will play their quarterfinal matches today. The matches, which will begin at 5:00 PM, will be played on the rather attractive make-shift half-court that has been constructed bang in the middle of the clock tower square. The semifinals will be held tomorrow. And the finals on Wednesday. The Bhutan Basketball Federation, which organized the tournament, is keeping a close eye on all the games – they’ll be recruiting a national team from the participants. Two…

Devika Darjee

February 1, 2011Posted inPeople, Sports
A winnerAlmost 200 of you took part in the poll to decide who would be our sportsperson of the year. Thank you for voting. And thank you for your many comments. I closed the poll at midnight on the last day of January. The race was close. Ugyen Yoeser (cycling) and Devika Darjee (cricket) ran neck and neck in our informal competition. Eventually Devika won, but by barely a whisker – she secured 55 votes against Ugyen’s 53. Devika Darjee was the only lady among my nominees for the sportsperson of 2010. She beat nine men to the top…

Sportsperson of the year

January 7, 2011Posted inSports
Who’s your favourite sportsperson? No, I’m not talking about international sports personalities. I’m talking about your favourite Bhutanese sportsman or woman. Let’s find out. Please take the poll that asks: who, in your opinion, is the Sportsperson of 2010? My nominations are not exhaustive. Nor are they accurate. They are some of our athletes I’ve read about or heard about from the media during the past year. They are people who I think have excelled in their sport. Or who have shown potential. And who are role models for our children. If I’ve missed any one – and I’m…