Grand finale of the Women’s Basketball League organized for the first time in Nepal was held on Saturday, the 22^nd of June. Nepal Police Club took on Samriddhi Gorilla. Supporters of both the teams were assessing chances of both the sides to lift the trophy. While the grand finale was underway inside the covered hall of the National Sports Council, heavens opened up and heavy!

The condition of the covered hall constructed by the Government of China during the tenure of former Member Secretary Sharad Chandra Shah was evident during the grand finale. While it was cold outside with the downpour, the mood inside was heated up fueled by the excitement of the tournament decider. However, the rain had its say and the final match inside the covered hall was affected.

The covered hall facility has been dilapidated to the magnitude it suffered regular power outage with water leaking from its roof making it to the court posing risks of untoward incidents during the match. While the players were working on their strategies to score more than their opponent, the light went off which brought the game to a halt. Despite the match resuming after power was reconnected, the court was wet with water.

This required the floor of the court to be wiped off over and over again. The scene was almost like the covered hall voicing its agony out with calls for the much required repair and maintenance works. In such a situation, sport officials were in their comfort at the VIP box, indifferent to the plight of the venue, players and the supporters. However, having witnessed the pity state of the facility, nobody voiced for renovation and upgrading of the covered hall.

The covered hall was largely affected by the April 2015 earthquake, but efforts remain to be made for its reconstruction. National tournaments continue to be held in this facility. National sports governing body, the National Sports Council is yet to pay any attention towards the repair of the roof and other aspects. Despite several assurances of repair, the NSC is yet to practice what it preaches.

Concerns were evident in the faces of all the players when the roof began to leak to the court surface as there were huge possibilities of the players slipping and getting injured. While there were no such accidents, the match was delayed with several interventions to wipe the court.

The wooden surface of the court has aged as well. Once repaired during the international basketball tournament when Yubraj Lama was the NSC Member Secretary, the surface has seen no additional works ever since.

While new infrastructures are being constructed outside of this facility, everyone is expecting of repair and maintenance of the covered hall as well.