Pukar Gurung of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) set a new national mark as weightlifting saw records broken on the fourth consecutive day during the seventh National Games on Wednesday as the departmental giants continued their domination by claiming gold medals in basketball, kabaddi and five titles in boxing.

Gurung, competing in men’s above-105kg, lifted 124kg in snatch to better his previous best mark of 123kg which he set during the Asian Championship in Thailand last year. He had a clean and jerk lift of 135kg to clinch gold for a total of 259kg. Rajeev Maharjan of Central Region took silver with a total lift of 203kg—90 in snatch and 113 in clean and jerk. Subash Upadhyaya of Far West won bronze lifting a total of 201kg.

Devi Chaudhary of Nepal Police Club (NPC) had opened the Games with a new record in women’s 53kg snatch, while Kamala Shrestha (58kg) of TAC broke records in snatch, clean and jerk and total lift on the second day. The same day, Army lifter Kamal Bahadur Adhikari had set a new men’s 85kg snatch, clean and jerk and total record. On Tuesday, NPC’s Dinesh Shrestha had set three new national records.

In the men’s bleow-105kg, Gagan Chand of TAC claimed gold with 96kg in snatch and 118kg in clean and jerk for a total lift of 214kg. Bipendra Maharjan of NPC and Ashik Hussain of Central took silver and bronze respectively.

Army clinch five gold medals

Army struck five gold medals in boxing in Chandragadi, Jhapa followed by three from APF on Wednesday. Three of those five titles came in women’s event, while two others came in men’s category. Lalita Maharjan won the 46-48kg event, Bimala Shrestha struck gold in 51-54kg and Niru Gurung claimed the title in 54-57kg weight division. TAC duo Prem Chaudhary won the men’s 52kg title and Deepak Shrestha bagged the men’s 64kg division championship.

For APF, Mala Rai, Saraswoti Rana Magar and Puran Rai struck gold medals. Mala won the women’s 48-51kg division, Saraswoti clinched the women’s 57-60kg event and Puran got hold of men’s 56kg championship.

Nepal Police Club (NPC) and Central Region also grabbed a gold medal each on Wednesday. Dinesh Shrestha won the men’s 60kg division title for NPC while Sushil Thapa gave Central the gold in men’s 49kg event.

Basketball

Armymen also won the men’s basketball final defeating Central Region 83-70. In the third place playoff, Western Region overcame Eastern Region 82-74. Central Region had claimed gold in the women’s basketball.

Kabaddi

TAC dominated kabaddi events winning gold medals in both the men’s and women’s categories. In the men’s final, TAC eased to a 47-30 victory over Central Region. Western Region and APF were the losing semi-finalists. However, TAC toiled hard to beat NPC 24-22 in the women’s category. Far West and Eastern got bronze. 

Central pip Western into semi-finals

In men’s cricket, Central Region pipped Western Region on net run-rate to make it to the semi-finals as Group ‘B’ runners-up to Nepal Police Club (NPC). NPC, Central and Western all finished on four points each with net run-rate separating the three teams. Central beat NPC by nine runs in a crucial match in Biratnagar. Central scored 120 and restricted NPC for 111 in 19.4 overs. In another Group ‘A’ match between already qualified teams, Nepal APF Club beat Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) by 28 runs. APF scored 165-4 and dismissed TAC for 137 in 17.5 overs. The victory saw APF make it to semis as the table toppers.

Volleyball

Departmental teams also ruled in volleyball with TAC winning the men’s gold and APF winning the women’s final. TAC stunned defending champions APF in the men’s final winning 25-21, 25-16, 25-15. NPC ended up third. APF overcame Central Region 25-21, 25-21, 25-22. Western Region finished third.