Prince Dahal, the young star of Nepali badminton, is going to play in Paris Olympics 2024. Badminton, which has a long history of Nepali sports, is going to play Olympics for the first time. Prince, who has made history by reaching the first place in the junior world badminton rankings, has made another history.

After the Badminton Association was established in 2008, badminton has been played institutionally in Nepal. However, there is a history of playing badminton in Nepal long before that.

President of Nepal Badminton Association Ramji Bahadur Shrestha says that it is a great achievement for Nepal to have the success of playing this sport for the first time in the long history of Serofero. He said to Kantipur, "Badminton, which has a long history, is playing in the Olympics for the first time. It is a great and historic achievement for us. This has given enthusiasm to badminton as a whole . Prince (Dahal) deserves this success. I believe that he will do well in the Olympics and raise the height of Nepali badminton.' 

172 world badminton players have been selected for the Olympics to be held in Paris, France from July 26 to August 11. It includes players from 49 countries. Prince is one of them. He will compete in men's singles at the Paris Olympics.

age Prince is running in his 20s . He said that his childhood dream of playing the Olympics is about to come true. Prince was happy, "I am very excited and happy after hearing this news". It was a dream to play the Olympics since childhood. That is being completed in Paris.'

He said that he felt proud to be able to raise the height of Nepali badminton. He said that he worked hard for that. 

Born in Darchula, Prince held a racket from the age of 6-7. Before he reached puberty, he started to achieve success in domestic competitions . At the age of 15, he won the gold medal in the international junior competition Dubai International Series. That was in September of 2019 . There, he made a big leap in the world rankings after defeating India's Varun Kapoor. After that, he was successful in the tournaments included in the rankings and was the top of the junior rankings.

Prince, who won two bronze medals in doubles at the 13th South Asian Games on home soil, also played in Hangzhou Asiad in China last year. He was defeated in the round of 32 in Asiad.

Prince is aiming to make Paris Olympic participation even more historic. He says, "I will try my best to make Olympic participation memorable". I will work harder.'

For that, he is soon going to Sri Lanka for training. Even before this, he was receiving training from an Indonesian coach in Sri Lanka. He is an Olympic scholarship player. For that, he receives $750 a month from the Olympics.

Leading up to the Olympic journey, Prince said the contribution of his family, especially his mother, the Badminton Association, the Olympic Committee and all his mentors was remarkable. Thanking everyone, he said, "I have reached this place with their help and support." I will turn their expectations towards me into more success.'  

How was the prince chosen at the Olympics?

The Badminton World Federation recognized various tournaments from May 1, 2023 to April 28, 2024 as qualifying tournaments as the 'Road to Paris' cycle. The quota determines that athletes from all five continents are represented in the Olympics. 

172 athletes, both male and female, had a place in the Paris Olympics. Among them, 166 players were selected directly through the competition, with a ratio of 83-83 for women and men, while the universality (sovereignty) quota was four and the host country's quota was two.

Nepal's Prince is ranked 179th in the world ranking. He falls under universality quota . For that, the tripartite commission (including the International Olympic Committee, World Badminton Federation and the organizing National Olympic Committee representatives) selects the players who fall under the universality quota . To fall into that quota, there are criteria for receiving an IOC scholarship, performing in ranking competitions and being a high-ranking athlete of the country.