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BARDIYA, Nov 29: The 28th International Elephant Polo will kick off at the Tiger Tops Lodge in Thakurdwara of Bardiya National Park on Monday. The game that used to be held in Meghauli, Chitwan, in the past will be held in Bardiya this year, due to the shutdown of resorts in Chitwan from July 16 this year, the organizers said.
Spectators have already started arriving at the Tiger Tops, which is a tourist destination, to watch the game. The number of visitors -- both foreigners and Nepalis -- has increased dramatically while a local resident Ramesh Chaudhary said everybody is eager to see how the game is played.
Out of the 11 teams participating in the event scheduled for November 30 to December 5, ten teams are from abroad while one team of the National Park will represent Nepal. There were eight teams, including two from Nepal, during last year´s event held in Meghauli.
According to Gauri Malakar, manager of the Tiger Tops lodge, the participants from England, Hong Kong, Iceland, Singapore, Scotland, the US and Tiger Tops International have arrived at the venue. The Tiger Tops Lodge, the organizer of the event, has made arrangements for 5,000 viewers to watch the game free of charge every day, said Malakar.
The tournament had faced uncertainty after the demise of the founder of the tournament in March this year but the organizers managed to arrange 20 elephants instead of 16 that are needed for the game.
Following Nepal´s trail, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand have also started organizing elephant polo events of late.
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