Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club claimed the team titles of the National Boxing Championships held under the National Sports Council Championships in Birtamode, Jhapa, on Wednesday.

Army claimed eight gold, one silver and bronze medal each in men’s category while APF bagged three gold, four silver and a bronze medal in women’s category. Jhapa stood second in men’s section with a gold, silver and bronze medal apiece. Police won one silver and two bronze medals. In the women’s category Army clinched three gold, two silver and three bronze medal to finish ahead of Police, who bagged one silver and two bronze medals.

Prem Chaudhary was named the best male boxer and Bimala Shrestha the female boxer. Prakash Limbu Ijam of Jhapa and Jenish Rai of Lalitpur won the emerging players’ honours.

In the women’s 48kg division final, Lalita Maharjan of Army defeated Nangja Budamagar of APF while APF’s Mala Rai won the women’s 51kg gold defeating Gita Kumari Thapa of Army. The 54kg final clash saw Bimala Shrestha of Army beat Nita Gosai of Bhaktapur. In women’s other bout, Kusum Tamang (57kg) of Naxal, Sangita Sunar (60kg) of APF, Punam Rawal (64kg) of Army, Anuradha Lama (69kg) of Police and Saraswati Rana (above 75kg) of Army claimed gold medals. 

In men’s section, Manohar Basnet (Max) of Jhapa took 81kg division gold defeating Saujan Thapa of Tikathali while Shyam Khadka of Army bagged 91kg category title. Ashish Duwadi of Army took gold in the above-91kg division. The Army players to win the gold were Dipesh Lama (75kg), Bishnu Ghale (69kg), Eak Bahadur Ghale (60kg), Bimal Roka (56kg), Prem Chaudhary (52kg) and Tej Bahadur Deuba (49kg). Bhupendra Thapa Magar of Police won 64kg gold.

Dubutant Nepal shines

Debutant Sushmita Nepal of Central Region took a surprise lead in women’s 10m air rifle on the opening day of the National Shooting Tournament at the Satdobato Shooting Range in Lalitpur on Wednesday.

Nepal accumulated 383 out of total 400 points to finish the day on top of the women’s event. Olympian and the national record holder Sneha Rajya Laxmi Shah of Western Region stands second with equal points. Nepal, however, occupies top position by the virtue of better score earned in the last series. Nepal earned 96 points against 94 points of Rana in the last series. Rana holds national record in the event with 389 points. Phulmaya Kyapchaki of Nepal Police Club is on third with 377 points.    

In the men’s 10m air rifle, Dhan Bahadur BK of Western scored 574 points out of 600 to lead the table. Arnav Ghimire of Mid Western and Kumar Karki of Tribhuvan Army Club are second and third despite earning equal 560 points on the basis of last series score. Ghimire garnered 94 points against 92 of Karki in the last series.

Men’s 10m air pistol saw Kuver KC of Army take the lead scoring 543 out of 600 points. Satrudhan Das of Eastern Region occupies second spot with 524 points while Mohammed Noor Ahmed Ansari of Western stands third with 463 points. In the women’s 10m air pistol, Sarita Basnet scored 358 points to lead the standings ahead of Rubina Shrestha (343 points) of Central Region and Sima Chaudhary (331 points) of Police team. 

Top five shooters after the completion of each event will again battle it out for the title in the final round.

Karki, Rai share lead

Sukra Bahadur Rai and Tanka Bahadur Karki were tied for the lead in the first round of the NGA-NSC Open Golf Championship at the par-68 Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) on Wednesday.

Rai and Karki shot three-over 71 on the first day of the tournament organised by Nepal Golf Association under the NSC Championship. Suresh Tamang was next in third at six-over 74, while Navaraj Thapa is fourth at 75. Subash Ghising, Bharat Bastakoti and Bipin Tamang were tied for fifth at eight-over 76. Binod Tamang and Suman Pariyar shared the eighth place at 77, while Amit Bogati and Sundar Rai are tied for 10th at 78.

In team event, Central Region are two strokes ahead of Nirvana Country Club. The Central team of Karki (71), Subash Ghising (76) and Sandip Tamang (80) posted a total of 147, while Nirvana team of Rai (71), Yubraj Bhujel (80) and Sundar Rai (78) accumulated a total of 149. Western Region, comprising of  Prajwal Gurung (84), Ajit BK (79) and Surestha Tamang (74), were tied for third  with RNGC team of Binod Tamang (77), Bharat Bastakoti (76) and Navaraj Chaulagain (82) at the total score of 153.

In all, 40 golfers including seven teams are taking part in the tournament.

Records tumble

Sangita Rai of Nepal Police Club (NPC) set a new national record during the National Weightlifting Championships in Pokhara on Wednesday. Competing in the women’s 48kg weight division, Rai improved on the previous clean & jerk record by one kilograms.

Rai lifted 66kg to better the previous mark of 65kg set by Nita Thapa 12 years ago. Rai clinched the gold medal in the weight division with a total lift of 118kg after lifting 52-kg in snatch.

In the women’s 53kg weight division, Sanju Chaudhary set new records in snatch, clean & jerk and the total lift to win the gold medal. Chaudhary set the new snatch record of 63kg, improved on the clean & jerk mark by one kilogram to 82kg. The total lift of 145kg was also a new national record in the weight division.

Army’s Kamala Shrestha struck gold in the women’s 58kg division with a total lift of 151kg. She lifted 65kg in snatch and 86kg in clean & jerk. Her clean & jerk lift was a new national record.

Ganesh Ranabhat clinched the gold medal in the men’s 52kg weight division with a total lift of 149kg. Ranabhat lifted 67kg in snatch and 82kg in clean & jerk. Army’s Tularam Mahato won the men’s 56kg division gold with a total lift of 179kg. Mahato lifted 83kg in snatch and 96kg in clean & jerk.

Army, Central on top

Army and Central Region advanced to the men’s semi-final as group winners in the National Basketball Champi-onships National Sports Council covered  hall in Kathmandu on Wednesday. Army beat Nepal Police Club 95-70 to top Group ‘A’. Robin Khatri netted 29 points for Army. Police also advanced as runners-up.

In Group ‘B’ match, Central edged past Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club 82-75 to top the group. Rajib Joshi netted 29 points for the winners. APF also made it to the semi-finals as the group runners-up. Army will meet APF and Central will take on Police in the semi-finals.

In the women’s category, Western became the last team to book a semi-final berth. Western beat Eastern 53-47 with Lima Pun scoring 19 points. Mid Western, Central and Army have already secured semi-final places.