Thinley Namgay  

The two-day Bhutanese Sports Festival in Perth, Australia brought together seven football teams and six basketball teams and hundreds of spectators ended yesterday.  

Considering the significance of youths’ contributions to a vibrant Bhutanese community across the world and within Bhutan, the festival was dedicated to His Royal Highness Prince Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck and named Gyalsey Cup.    

The sports festival was organised by the football and basketball communities of Bhutanese in Australia with support from the Association of Bhutanese in Perth, Western Australia. 

All the games were played in a league format.   

Team Yoena Mena from Sydney won the basketball tournament winning all five games.  Team Magics from Perth came second.

Bhucan FC from Canberra won the football tournament. Of the six games, Bhucan FC won five. Rising Stars from Perth stood second.   

Besides working and studying, Bhutanese communities in Australia also attach importance to sporting activities.  

One of the organisers, Tshering Penjor from Perth said that the other major goal of the festival was to promote harmony in the Bhutanese communities and unite them through sports.     

Among seven football teams, two were from Brisbane, one from Canberra, and four were from Perth. Four basketball teams were from Perth, and the other two were from Sydney and Canberra. 

Tshering Penjor said the organisers expect to conduct the festival as an annual event around various cities in Australia.  

He said the festival became more encouraging as many Bhutanese in Perth witnessed the games.