Sports
Police clinch taekwondo, karate team titles
Nepal Police Club clinched the taekwondo team championship held under the eighth National Games in Bhairahawa on Tuesday.Madhav Dhungana
Nepal Police Club clinched the taekwondo team championship held under the eighth National Games in Bhairahawa on Tuesday.
NPC won 11 gold, three silver and three bronze medals to top the standings in taekwondo. Tribhuvan Army Club finished in second with six gold, four silver and seven bronze medals while Nepal APF Club ended up in third with two gold, seven silver and five bronze medals.
The departmental teams alone won 19 of the 21 gold medals on offer in taekwondo. Province 1 and Province 5 claimed one gold medal each. Apart from a gold, Province 1 also grabbed three silver and five bronze medals, while Province 5 bagged one silver and three bronze medals. Sakchhyam Karki of Army club in men’s and Rejina Karki of NPC in women’s categories were crowned with the best fighter awards. Ranjan Shrestha of NPC was adjudged as the best coach of the taekwondo meet.
Kul Bhadur Thapa of Nepal Police Club (right) attempts a spike against Province 1 during their volleyball semi-final match in Khajura, Banke, on Tuesday. Police won the game 25-23, 25-13, 20-25, 25-20 to set up the title clash with Tribhuvan Army Club. Post photo: Keshav Thapa
NPC claimed four of the six gold medals on offer on the final day of the tournament. Manoj Malla, Rejina Karki, Anuj Pujari and Manita Shai struck gold medal for NPC while Unisha Rai of Army and Govinda Bahadur Ale of Province 5 bagged one gold medal each on Tuesday.
Malla won the men’s 54kg division title defeating Ganesh Chaudhary of APF in the final. Karki saw off Gita Kathayat of Sudhurpaschim to claim the women’s 46kg division title while Pujari beat Ramhari Mahat of Army club to win the men’s 87kg gold medal. Manita Shahi defeated Sushma Gurung of APF to secure the women’s 73kg weight division gold medal. Rai beat Ashmita Khadka to bag the women’s 49kg gold while Ale saw off Chandra Rana Magar in the men’s 58kg division gold medal match.
NPC also claimed karate team championship title at the Beljhundi Stadium in Dang on Tuesday. Rajib Pudasaini of NPC won the one and the only gold medal match scheduled on Tuesday. Pudasaini defeated Rajkumar Rasaili of Province 4 5-1 in the final of men’s 60kg weight division. Both Rasaili and Pudasaini are the products of Balaju Karate-Do Academy. It was the first gold medal for Pudasaini, who hails from Nuwakot, in the National Games. “I am extremely happy. He (Rasaili) is my senior and my mentor as well. My hard work paid off today,” said Pudasaini.
Before making to 60kg final, Pudasaini overcome Swatantra Magar of Province 2 7-0 and Mohan Karki of Nepal APF Club 10-1. Rasaili had registered three victories en route to the final. He defeated Sanjiv Chaudhary of Province 5, Sunny Chaulagain of Army and Jagat Sing Dhami of Province 7. Karki and Dhami were restricted to joint bronze medal. Karate did not feature team fight bout in the National Games.
Along with nine gold medals, NPC also bagged one silver and bronze each. Tribhuvan Army Club finished second with three and Province 3 ended up in third with two gold medals. Nepal APF Club, Province 4 and Province 1 secured one gold medal each. Non Residential Nepali Association, participating in the National Games for the first time, ended with two medals including a silver from Subhadra Shrestha and bronze from Shanti Adhikari.
Suman Aryal of Tribhuvan Army Club runs with the ball against Province 5 during their football match in Nepalgunj on Tuesday. Post photo: Keshav Thapa
Wushu
Army clinched the team championship title in wushu with 14 gold, one silver and three bronze medals in Nepalgunj on Tuesday. APF finished second with five gold, eight silver and five bronze medals. NPC won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal. Karna won the remaining one gold in the tournament that offered a total of 22 gold medals.
On the last day of wushu tournament, Kabita Thapa Magar of APF bagged women’s taolu chan quan gold with 18.05 points. Alisha Khati of Sudhurpaschim won silver and Muna Sirish Magar of Army bronze. The men’s taub su saw Bishwa Budha Magar of Army claim gold earning 18.9 points. Kumar Sinjali of APF and Rajiv Tamang of Province 5 finished with silver and bronze medals.
Elina Chaudhary of Army beat Gaura Gharti Magar of Sudhurpaschim to claimed the women’s 52kg sanshou gold. In the 56kg, Juni Rai of NPC beat APF Kamala Bohara for gold while Army’s Lumanti Shrestha beat APF’s Nisha BK in the 60kg final. Manisha Rawat of APF secured 65kg gold beating Puja Gupta of NPC while Bindu Pun Magar of Army won the 70kg division gold defeating Tanuja Sundas of Province 1. Shilu Dangol claimed the 75kg gold. Dangol overcome Anisha Ale Magar on Gandaki in the gold medal clash.
ITF Taekwondo
Army claimed the team championship title in the ITF Taekwondo with 16 gold, two silver and four bronze medals in Nepalgunj. APF finished with four gold, nine silver and four bronze medal while Province 3 walked away with four gold, seven silver and 10 bronze medals. Tulasa Rajthala of Army finished with three gold medals. On Tuesday, Rajthala claimed women’s 61-65kg gold defeating Januka Karnel of Province 5. The 65-70kg category saw Kamana Pun of Army secure gold defeating Dolma Gurung of Province 3. Kayam Limbu of Army bagged over 70kg division gold defeating Nikita Tamang of Gandaki Province.
Sajan Panchbhaiya of Province 5 won the men’s 76-80kg category gold medal. Sujan Pulami Magar of Province 3 secured silver while Bijay Sunwar of Army and Rajan Rasaili of Gandaki were joint bronze medalists. In above 80kg division, Chauchi Dangol of Army won gold defeating Sudip Acharya of Gandaki Province. Sagar Baniya of Province 3 and Sher Bahadur Saru Magar of Province 2 were the joint bronze medalists.
Shooting
Sushmita Nepal of Province 3 set a new national record in women’s 10m air rifle in shooting at the Nepalgunj Shooting Range on Tuesday. Nepal scored 234 out of 240 points to break the previous record held by Sneha Rajya Laxmi Rana. Rana had set the mark during the NSC Championships. Kalpana Pariyar of Army earned silver with 227 points and Asmita Rai of NPC took bronze with 203 points. Arnab Ghimire of Province 5 secured gold in men’s 10m air rifle with 216 points. He collected two points more than silver winner Hari Bahadur Thapa of NPC. Suresh Chaudhary of NPC won bronze with 196 points.
Kho Kho
Army claimed both men’s and women’s gold in kho kho in Bardiya. In the men’s final Army beat Province 5 by 15-14. Province 2 defeated Province 3 9-7 in the bronze medal clash. In the women’s event, Army registered a narrow 9-8 win over Province 5. Sudhurpaschim won the third place playoff match defeating Province 3 12-3. The tournament featured nine teams in total including seven Provinces along with Army and APF.
Soft Tennis
Yukesh Maharjan of Province 1 claimed men’s singles soft tennis gold defeating Pradip Khatri of Province 3 in the final in Butwal. Ranish Tamang of Province 1 and Suraj Chaudhary of Province 5 were joint bronze medallists. Chandra Maya Rai of Province 1 bagged women’s singles gold defeating Bhagwati BK of APF in the final. Sriya Yonjan of Province 1 and Priti Baral of Gandaki were joint bronze medallists. Province 1 claimed the men’s team event gold defeating NPC in the final. Province 5 secured women’s team event gold defeating Province 1 in the final.