POKHARA: The cross-country competitions are taking place here today under the Paragliding World Cup Asian Tour and the 19th Nepal Open Paragliding Championship.

The paragliding Asian Tour and Championship began here on Sunday. The event is organized by Nepal Airsports Association with cooperation from Nepal Paragliding and Hang Gliding Association and Nepal Paragliding Pilots Club.

Eighty-nine air sports players from 20 countries including Nepal are participating in the competition which will last till February 29. Nepal, America, Great Britain, France, Japan, India, Korea, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Russia, Iran, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia, among other countries, are competing in the Asian Tour section of the event, tournament coordinator and NAA immediate past president, Yogesh Bhattarai, said.

Twelve Chinese pilots who had registered for the competition however pulled out in the last hour as they could not come due to the coronavirus epidemic in their country.

On the first day of the event on Sunday, pilots carried out practice paragliding from Sarangkot to Khapaundi. Fifteen pilots from Nepal are competing in the championship. The organizers have the objective of selecting five to eight players from this Asian Tour for the Paragliding World Cup Championship Superfinals to be held in 2021.

The Asian Tour is taking place in Nepal, Indonesia and China this year. President of NAA Krishna Bhandari said only pilots having the Federation Aeronautic International (FAI) license and included in the world pilot ranking are taking part in the event .