Sports
Army, Farwest enter semis
Defending champions Tribhuvan Army Club and runners up Far-western Region advanced to the men’s semi-finals of the National Hockey Tournament held under the National Sports Council Championships in Hetauda on Tuesday.Defending champions Tribhuvan Army Club and runners up Far-western Region advanced to the men’s semi-finals of the National Hockey Tournament held under the National Sports Council Championships in Hetauda on Tuesday.
Army finished on top of Group ‘A’ and Farwest secured top position in Group ‘B’. Army defeated Mid-western 4-0 in their last group match. Dev Sing Dhami and Dipendra Ayer netted a brace each for the departmental giants. Dhami opened the scoring in the sixth minute and Ayer doubled their advantage in the 49th. He made it 3-0 in the 53rd before Dhami sealed victory with his second goal one minute from time. Farwest edged past Western Region 2-0. Dipak Raj Joshi broke the deadlock in the 50th minute before Rajesh Bista ensured victory seven minute later with the second goal.
In the women’s round robin league, Army registered a 6-0 victory over Eastern Region to move on top of the standings with six points. Sitamaya Bal alone netted four goals in the 13th, 18th, 41st and 50th minute. Pinki Sinjali and Tanka Maya Khapangi also struck a goal each. The another match of the day saw Western beat Farwest 1-0 on a 44th minute goal from Madhu Kumari Sarraf. It was the second successive defeat for the holders Farwest.
APF, Farwest win
Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club and Farwest made winnings starts to the National Men’s Football Tournament that kicked off in Dang on Tuesday.
In the opening match played at Tulsipur, APF beat Midwest 1-0. Amrit Adhikari struck the decider in the 11th minute to send APF into the semi-finals. The other match played at Ghorahi saw Farwest beat Central Region 1-0 to book the last four ticket. Dilip Thapa netted the winning goal three minutes from time.
Western Region will take on Nepal Police Club in Tulsipur and Eastern Region will vie against Tribhuvan Army Club in Ghorahi on Wednesday. The eight-team knockout tournament features five regional and three departmental teams.
Shrestha, Gauchan enter second round
Shikshya Shrestha and Shova Gauchan of APF won their women’s singles matches of the National Badminton Championships in Mahendranagar on Tuesday.
Shrestha beat Nilima Mahara of Farwest 23-21, 21-5 and Gauchan eased past Prasunta Khatri 21-7, 21-12. Tara Ale and Sofi Khatri of Central, Sunaina Mukhiya, Nita Lamshal and Sima Rajbanshi of Eastern, Anu Maya Rai and Rashila Maharjan of Army also made it to the second round.
Joining them in the next round were Shreya Pradhan of Central, Sita Rai of APF, Jessica Gurung of Eastern, Durga Sharma of Midwest and Amita Giri of Army. The tournament features events in the men’s and women’s singles and doubles, mixed doubles and men’s and women’s team events.
Taekwondo kicks off on Thursday
The National Taekwondo Championships will begin at Nepal Taekwondo Academy in Satdobato, Lalitpur, from Thursday. The three-day event will see competitions in 22 categories in gyeorugi and poomsae, according to Nepal Taekwondo Association (NTA) director Ram Saran Adhikari. There will be equal eight weight categories in men’s and women’s gyeorugi and three age-group competitions in poomsae. Eighth teams—five regional and three departmental teams–are competing in the tournament.