Sports
Judokas set to compete at regional meet
Three Nepali judokas are all set to compete in the junior category of the 11th Asian Cadet & 18th Asian Junior Judo Championship in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on July 12-16.Three Nepali judokas are all set to compete in the junior category of the 11th Asian Cadet & 18th Asian Junior Judo Championship in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on July 12-16.
Manita Shrestha Pradhan will compete in women’s U-57kg category while Indra Bahadur Shrestha will vie in the men’s 66kg and Kiran Gaden in the below-60kg division.
The three judokas along with coach Birendra Ranjeet and Nepal Judo Association President Deepak Harsha Bajracharya will leave for the Championship on July 12. Nepali judokas are scheduled to start their campaign on July 15.
Bajracharya informed that the players were picked on the basis of their performance in various tournaments including the Seventh National Games in November last
year, recently held Asian Junior Championship in India and Asian Championship in Hong Kong.
Coach Ranjeet, who has been looking after the team for the last four months, is hopeful of winning at least bronze if not a silver medal. “We have made good preparations and also won bronze medal in the 10th edition (last year) in Kochi.
We can look up on all three players as they are national team members,” said Ranjeet on Sunday.
According to Ranjit, all three players had a month-long training in Hungary two months earlier before competing in the Asian Judo Championship in Hong Kong on May 26-29 which all add up to their exposure.
Pradhan, the silver medallist of the 2016 South Asian Games in India, was the bronze winner in cadet category along with Phupu Lhamu Khatri, who also struck bronze in the junior category in Kochi last year.