In the Nepal-China Friendship Dragon Boat Race Festival 2023 held in Pokhara, China's Sichuan Dragon Boat Team sponsored by Huaxin Cement won the competition. The event was programmed on Friday and Saturday in which Nepal's ''Nara Nepal'' procured second position in the festival held at Fewatal in Pokhara.

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The festival was organized by the Nepal Tourism Board in joint collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Nepal and the Pokhara Metropolitan City.  This Dragon Boat Race Festival was organized for the first time in South Asia. Eight teams participated in the competition which included three from China, one from Singapore and the other four from Nepal.

The final competition for the title took place between 2 teams of Nepal and China each. 'Nara Dragon Boat Team' and 'NRCA Dragon Boat Team' were two of the four nepalese teams which managed to get to the second round in the finals from Nepalese side.

Sichuan Dragon Boat, which bagged first place was awarded with cash prize of Rs.12 lakhs. Likewise,  ''Nara Nepal'' which gave a tough competition secured a second place with cash prize of Rs.8 lakhs along with a medal and a certificate. Yunnan, who had to settle for the third place, received Rs 5 lakh in cash, while every other participating teams were also given Rs 1 lakh.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Ganesh Timilsina, who watched the whole race, thanked the organizers of the festival, which was held with the initiative of His Excellency Chen Song, the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, enthusiastically expressed that while making Pokhara the focal point, it is necessary to make a plan to bring this game to Tilicho, Rara and other tourist areas as well.

Dhanraj Acharya, mayor of Pokhara, speaking at the closing speech of the race, stated,"International flights are taken for granted in Pokhara, but it is not a small matter to pass immigration and get a visa on arrival in Pokhara. So, I would like to thank the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, the Chinese Embassy, Sichuan Airlines, and also this Dragon Race. I want to publicize our plan to include the Nepalese team in the Olympics by developing boat race sports in Nepal as well."

"Dragon boat was brought to Nepal only 15 days ago and it was given to us for training only 7 days ago. I want to congratulate and thank our players for being able to win the second title with strict discipline despite many obstacles and difficulties. I would like to request the city state government and the government of Nepal to provide appropriate amount of support for the training and nutrition of the players in upcoming days'', told,  Nim Bahadur Magar, a coach of Nepalese team Nara to SATV.

Some other glimpses of the event:

''First of all, I would like to thank all the organizers for organizing the Dragon Boat Race in Nepal for the first time in South Asia and even with little experience and little training, if the Nepali team stood at the second place, I would like to draw the government's attention to this matter." Nara Nepal player Bishnu Gurung expressed his complaint.