Sports
Thapa Magar reigns in traditional Liglige Daud
Anish Thapa Magar of Parbat claimed the title of Liglige Daud, a traditional race of Gorkha, for the third time on Sunday.Hariram Upreti
Anish Thapa Magar of Parbat claimed the title of Liglige Daud, a traditional race of Gorkha, for the third time on Sunday.
Thapa Magar, who works at the Gorkha Regiment of Indian Army, clocked 58 minutes 25 seconds to complete the distance of 13.8km race to finish ahead of 77 runners. As the winner of the Liglige Daud, Thapa Magar was offered the king’s crown and made the king of Ligligkot for one day. He also bagged purse of Rs 60,100 in addition to the winner’s trophy. He was paraded around the city with musical instruments soon after his victory.
The race was organised by the Ligligkot Development Initiative (LDI) imitating the 17th century history of Ligligkot State of Gorkha who choose their king for one year through the Liglige Daud. The historians believe that the race used to be held during the Dashain festival with the champion crowned as the king of the state for one year.
Thapa Magar who had won the race earlier in 2014 and 2016 said that he was delighted to win the race for the third time. Tirtha Pun of Baglung finished second clocking 58:40 minute in the Daud that started from Chepeghat and finished at the Ligligkot Palace premises.
Ramji Basnet of Nepal Army clocked 59:21 minute to finish third. The second and third place finishers bagged Rs 35,100 and Rs 25,100. In all, top nine runners had their share in the cash prize.In the 13.8km race for locals, Kamal Nepali secured top finish clocking 1:05 hours. Surya Adhikari (1:15 hours) and Dipak Nepali (1:17 hours) finished second and third. The women’s 5km race saw Pushpa Bhandari clocking 39.58 minutes to win the event. Sanumaya Karki finished second with the timing of 41:42 minutes and Chhani Budhamagar stood third clocking 42:00 minutes. The top three finishers for both locals and women’s category received Rs 20,005, Rs 12,005 and Rs 7,005 respectively.