Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) claimed cricket and football titles as the seventh National Games concluded on Friday with Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) stamping their supremacy grabbing a haul of 113 gold medals.

APF were distant second with 50 gold, while Nepal Police Club (NPC) was third with 40. Central Region were the only regional team to get their gold tally past double figures clinching 33 gold. The Games decided 294 gold and as many silver medals along with 447 bronze with 3,972 athletes competing in the sporting extravaganza.

Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun declared the closure of the Games amidst a ceremony at the Anfa Technical Centre in Dharan. Youth and Sports Minister Daljit Sripali handed over the Games flag to a team from Mid Western Region who were named the hosts for the eighth edition.

Cricket 

At the Baijnathpur grounds, TAC put APF to bat first in the men’s cricket final and managed to restrict the defending champions to 121-9 in 20 overs. After seamer Yagyaman Kumal gave the early initiative, man-of-the-final Bhuwan Karki ripped through TAC batting order, picking up four wickets to bundle out the opponents for just 72 runs in 17.4 overs.

Kumal removed aggressive Sagar Pun (five) and Naresh Budhayer, Karki wreaked havoc in the middle order picking up key wickets of skipper Binod Bhandari (two), Rajesh Pulami (nine) and Sompal Kami (six) to paralyse TAC batting attack. 

Shakti Gauchan also picked up two wickets for APF who only had to go through a brief resistance from Budhayer, the No 3 batsman making 17 off 19 with two boundaries. No other TAC batsmen managed to make runs in double figures. 

Earlier, APF were reduced to 30-3 before skipper Paras Khadka pushed them close to triple figures with a 38-ball 33 with a six and a four. Karki, batting at number 10, struck two boundaries and a six in his 12-ball 24 not out as APF managed to reach what ultimately turned out to be a challenging total. 

Kami, Bikram Sob and Chandra Saud picked up two wickets each for TAC. Nepal Police Club (NPC) ended up with bronze defeating Central Region by 33 runs in the third place playoff.

Football

In the men’s football final held ahead of the closing ceremony, Anjan Bista struck twice as APF eased to a 2-0 victory over TAC in another departmental duel. National team midfielder Bista gave APF a 14th minute lead before doubling the tally in the 30th minute. TAC missed several scoring chances in the second half that saw them restricted to second place. NPC had ended up third defeating Central Region in the third place playoff on Thursday. 

Handball 

TAC and APF also claimed handball gold medals with contrasting victories. The Armymen had to toil hard to defeat APF 28-27 in extra time after both teams were tied on 25 goals in the regulation time. TAC managed to scored three and APF struck two goals in 10-minute added on time. Western Region took bronze with a 36-20 victory over Eastern. In the women’s final, APF overcame TAC 18-13. Western claimed bronze medal, beating Central Region 12-2.

Chess

Madan Krishna Kayastha of Central and Monalisha Khamboo of TAC claimed gold after the completion of ninth round matches in Dhankuta. Kayastha won the men’s gold beating Rijendra Rajbhandari of Central on head-to-head results after the duo was tied on 7.5 points. Rajbhandari had lost to Kayastha in the fourth round, while the latter ended the campaign unbeaten. Himal Lama of TAC took bronze. Unbeaten Khamboo played a draw against clubmate Suruchi Thing in the final round to win gold with eight points. Sujana Lohani (seven) and Sindira Joshi (6.5)—also from TAC—took silver and bronze medals.