Nepali finished fifth in the sprint event of the 18th World Rafting Championships at the Tully River in Queensland on Thursday.

Nepal clocked 247.78 seconds under R6 category of World Championships to improve on their previous outing when they had wounded up in 11th place. Nepali team comprised of skipper Suraj Gurung, Shakti Kumar Gurung, Padam Bahadur Gurung, Dipesh Gurung, Sabin Gurung and Rabil Miya.

Nepal’s prospect of winning a medal in the category was dashed when their boat hit the rock at a turning. Nepal skipper Suraj said: “Everyone gave their best so we managed to finish fifth. This is an achievement for the team.” Nepal coach Nim Bahadur Magar said his team could have even finished in top three had not the boat hit the rock which delayed their race. “We lost momentum and pace after unfortunately hitting the rock. We could have even won a medal had not we met the misfortune,” said the Nepal coach.

The Nepal team is competing in tournament for the second time and is taking aim at winning at least a medal. Holders Brazil made a bright start winning the sprint event at that championships that has four categories. Brazil finished the sprint in 242.52 seconds, 5.26 seconds ahead of Nepal. Brazil had won the overall championship in the 2017 held at the Yoshino River in Japan by winning all four categories: sprint, head-to-head, slalom and down river rafting. Japan had finished in second behind Brazil in 2017.

In sprint this year, Japan once against ended up in second behind Brazil with the timings of 243.49 seconds. Russia came third in 243.99 seconds and New Zealand in fourth in 246.67 seconds. Nepal finished ahead of hosts Australia, Indonesia, Germany, Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Canada, United States, China, Norway, Romania and Colombo in the men’s open event participated by 16 teams. Sprint category carries 100 points, head-to-head 200 points, slalom 300 points and down river 400 points in maximum. The team which earns the highest points overall will be the champions.

While Brazil earned 100 points for their win in sprint event while Japan got 92, Russia 86, New Zealand 82 and Nepal 79 points. Nepali team is believed to be strong in head-to-head and down river rafting. Nepal are pitted against China in the head-to-head contest on Friday. China finished 13th in the sprint event on Thursday. Nepal will play either Brazil or Czech Republic in the quarter-finals if they beat China on Friday. Nepal had made it to the semi-final of head-to-head event in 2017.