Final Year Psychology Student, Upama Pokharel leads Sunway Women’s Basketball Team to Victory for the Second Year Running!

The team was captained by Ms Upama Pokharel, who is a final year BSc (Hons) Psychology student from Nepal.

The Sunway Ladies Basketball Team with their trophy, mock cheque and medals.Sitting on the left is their coach, Sureshkumar. (Photo credit: Upama Pokharel)
The Sunway Ladies Basketball Team with their trophy, mock cheque and medals.Sitting on the left is their coach, Sureshkumar. (Photo credit: Upama Pokharel)

The Sunway Ladies Basketball Team comprises 15 members: Tze Xin Wong, Lim Ee Huey,

Cieme Tan She Min, Esther Yong Hui, Koo Hui Qi, Wong Khai Jin, Wong Rui Ling, Yeo Lyn Ying, Kai Xin, Oew Shoon Hui, Sany Tan, Foong Bi Ying, Yong Hsu Han, Ng Ying Shuang, and Upama Pokharel. The team trained twice a week from 6.30pm to 9.00pm throughout the year and increased their frequency to three or four times a week since August 2019 to prepare for the tournament.

The Sunway Ladies Basketball Team at the point of winning the championship finals (Photo credit: Upama Pokharel)
The Sunway Ladies Basketball Team at the point of winning the championship finals. (Photo credit: Upama Pokharel)

At the championship, the Sunway team beat teams from Asia Pacific University (APU) and Monash University Malaysia in the preliminary rounds, and then Taylor’s University in the quarter finals, before defeating Inti University in the semi-finals. In the thrilling finals, the Sunway team edged the home team, TAR University College, 57 to 53 points to win the championship. The team’s coach, Mr Sureshkumar commented that the win demonstrates the team's defensive mindset and their attitude of never giving up. Team mate, Sany Tan won the Best Player Award at the championship.

Sany Tan with her Best Player Award. (Photo credit: MASISWA)
Sany Tan with her Best Player Award. (Photo credit: MASISWA)

For leading the Sunway Ladies Basketball team to victory, Upama was awarded the Outstanding Leadership Award 2019 at Sunway University on 20 November 2019. Her team was named the 2019 High Rising Start Team of Sunway University.

Upama, who hails from Kathmandu, Nepal, has been playing basketball since the age of 11. She represents Nepal as a national team player for women’s basketball. She is studying psychology as a stepping stone to a career in sports as she understands the need for athletes to have mental strength and well-being to perform well at the professional level. She added that many athletes are also students and need to balance their careers with academic pursuits and social relationships. Upama also explained that team sports athletes need to work cohesively and to cooperate with one another. As such, she said that her venture into psychology is to help facilitate the progression of professional sports in her country. Upama would like professional sports to be better accepted as a career in Nepal.

When asked how she felt to be the captain of the winning team, Upama answered, “It was a lot of pressure because Sunway University was the defending champion for this tournament. A bigger challenge was that this year our Malaysian national player, Kylie Hiew was unable to join us at the championship. Our players also had serious injuries and health conditions with one who actually went through a heart surgery. These were players who were considered as the pillars of our team. This win was against all odds we were weaker than last year’s team and we felt that the home team had more advantage. Like last year, we face the same team in the finals. Nobody believed that we could reach the finals but all we did was to give 100% effort, stay focused and on top of all, to not be pressured - which brought us closer to victory. This time it was our teamwork and hardworking spirit that made us win and as a captain I feel very happy when we were able to prove when there were a lot of doubts about us.”

Another photo of the team, in their tournament colours with their medals and mock cheque, with Upama holding the championship trophy. (Photo credit: Upama Pokharel)
Another photo of the team, in their tournament colours with their medals and mock cheque,
with Upama holding the championship trophy. (Photo credit: Upama Pokharel)

On being part of the team, Upama said it was initially very challenging sharing her passion in basketball with the local Malaysian team as they were all ethnic Chinese and were conversant in Mandarin, which made her feel different, as they had to translate many of their conversations from Mandarin to English, which is her second language. It was something she was able to empathise with as she would not speak English either with her Nepali team mates before. It was even more difficult when they had to communicate when playing under pressure. Nevertheless, Upama got used to the whole process and has managed to even lead her team to victory.

Upama Pokharel with her trophy and medal after the prize giving ceremony (Photo credit: Upama Pokharel)
Upama Pokharel with her trophy and medal after the prize giving ceremony (Photo credit: Upama Pokharel)

Upama talked about becoming a professional sports psychologist not just to help athletes improve their performance but also to facilitate well-being in individuals in general using psychological techniques. She said that her psychology programme at Sunway University has helped her open her eyes to mental well-being. She hopes to also be able to continue representing Nepal women’s basketball as she is very passionate about the sport.

On her experience being at Sunway, Upama, who’s also one of the five Jeffrey Cheah Foundation Scholarship students from Nepal, said that she was initially lonely as it took her sometime to open up to people. However, she is now more familiar with the university and is able to assimilate well with other students. She has now been at Sunway for four years and she feels that her lecturers have been very supportive while helping her feel like she belongs here. She feels sad that she will be graduating soon. “I never thought that leaving Sunway University would be this hard” she said.

When ask if she has any advice for the current psychology students, Upama said, “You don’t have to worry because I feel like students doing this course seem very worried which makes everyone else worried as well. Life is more than just having good academic grades, I don’t mean not focusing on studies but give yourself some time to relax, and do not put yourself under unnecessary pressure, as you won't even realise when you complete your studies. So make the most out of it. Enjoy!”

throwback

Throwback to 31 March 2016: Upama and her fellow Nepali students Bashanta Pudasaini, Pratima Tamang, Mira Silwal and Ajnish Ghimire) at the scholarship event with H.E. Dr. Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat, Nepal Ambassador to Malaysia, En Amran Mahzan, Deputy Director of MERCY Malaysia, Puan Sri (Dr). Susan Cheah, Exco Member of Sunway and Dr Elizabeth Lee, then Senior Executive Director of Sunway Education Group.

“Well done indeed Upama and the Sunway Ladies Basketball team! Kudos to Upama especially, she has grown into a confident young lady. I remember meeting her and her four other friends when they first arrived at Sunway under the Sunway Mercy Malaysia Nepal Earthquake Relief Scholarship. She was so very shy and quiet. I’m so proud to see she has made full use of her time and taken advantage of the opportunities here at Sunway University, not only academically but also soft skills, especially leadership skills. And being an active basketball player herself, she would certainly be able to relate with the challenges faced by athletes. All these will definitely help her in her future career as a professional sports psychologist. Congratulations!”, said CEO of Sunway Education Group, Dr Elizabeth Lee.

Sunway University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graeme Wilkinson, said: “I am so proud that our Ladies Basketball Team has once again won the championship up against some extremely formidable opponents. I am also delighted that the team has been led by an international student pursuing psychology. Upama Pokharel clearly understands the role of psychology in winning at sports and I am sure that played a part in the team’s success. I congratulate the whole team on their magnificent achievement.”

Head of the Department of Psychology at School of Science and Technology, Sunway University, Assoc Prof. Dr Alvin Ng is also very proud of Upama. “I didn’t have any idea that Upama was an athlete representing Sunway University. She was in my History of Psychology class and I noticed that she pays very good attention while being very responsive in class activities. It’s not easy for any international student whose first language is not English to assimilate in the class, let alone captain a sports team! So I’m super impressed by Upama’s ability to not just play but to also lead a university team to win a championship two years in a row! Just amazing!”

The Department of Psychology and Sunway University would like to wish Upama Pokharel a very successful future and that her hopes of becoming a sport psychologist would come true. We are all very proud of her achievements and efforts to go further with psychology while helping others improve their well-being. We look forward to her graduating with a BSc (Hons) Psychology degree as a stepping stone towards a sports psychology career.