Football team crashes out of Asian Games

Nepal’s Rohit Chand and teammates celebrate an own goal from Pakistani player during their Asian Games match in Jakarta on Sunday.

Kathmandu, August 19

Nepal U-23 men’s football team crashed out from the group stage following their 2-1 loss at the hands of Pakistan in the third match of the tournament at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium.

After opening the campaign with an impressive 1-0 loss against Japan in the first match, Nepal went 2-0 down to Vietnam in the second game. On Sunday, Nepal took the lead in the 12th minute thanks to an own goal from Pakistan’s Shahbaz Younas, who buried the ball into his own nets while trying to clear an attempt from Rohit Chand. The goal was Nepal’s first in 36 years and overall second in the Asian Games.

Pakistan levelled the scores in the 54th minute when Muhammad Bilal found the back of the nets. Pakistan went ahead in the 72nd minute after Chand committed a foul inside the penalty box and Saddam Hussain converted the resulting penalty.

YB Ghale had netted first goal in Nepal’s 3-1 loss against Kuwait in New Delhi in 1982. That was the first time Nepal participated in the Asian Games and Ghale’s goal was the first official international goal for Nepal. Before leaving for Indonesia, Nepal had played a total of 16 matches in Asian Games and conceded 66 goals scoring just one.

Nepal’s Sinjali Bijay during the Wushu men’s Changquan games at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sunday, August 19, 2018. Photo: AP

Taekwondo

Kamal Shrestha lost to Chen Ching of Chinese Taipei by a slight margin in the round of 16 match of the men’s individual poomsae. Shrestha scored 7.510 points, while Ching earned 8.380. In women’s Team Poomsae, Nepali team of Sina Limbu Maden, Nita Gurung and Parbati Gurung advanced to the quarter-finals after Uzbekistan withdrew from the competition. But the team faced a defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei in the last eight. Nepal earned 7.420 points, while Chinese Taipei scored 8.190.

Badminton team members pose after advancing to the quarter-finals.

Badminton

Nepali men’s team of Ratnajit Tamang, Dipesh Dhami and Nabin Shrestha made it to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory over Pakistan. Tamang and Dhami won their singles matches, while Nabin Shrestha faced a defeat despite winning the first set. Tamang and Dhami then won the doubles match to make it 3-1. The team will now play against Chinese Taipei on Monday for a place in the semi-finals. In women’s section, the team of Nangsal Tamang, Jessica Gurung and Rashila Maharjan faced a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Maldives. Tamang and Gurung won their singles matches but Maharjan faced defeat. Tamang and Gurung lost 2-1 in the doubles, while Anita Giri and Maharjan faced 2-0 loss. Nepali shuttlers will also take part in singles, doubles, mixed doubles events.

Wrestling

Nepal’s challenge in wrestling ended on Sunday after all three players lost their matches in the first round. Bhagwat Shah Teli lost to Iranian opponent in the men’s 57kg weight category, while Suresh Chunara faced a defeat against Japanese wrestler in 75kg section and Saroj Yadav went down to Mongolian opponent in 65kg. All three wrestlers faced 10-0 defeats.

Shooting

Nepali shooters Sushmita Nepal and Sushe Chaudhary finished at the bottom of the mixed team event. Out of 436 total, Nepal earned 403.5 points, while Chaudhary scored 372.9 points in the 10m Air Rifle event which was participated in by 22 nations. The two shooters along with Kalpana Pariyar will now participate in individual event of 10m Air Rifle.

Suresh Chunara in action against Japan during their kabaddi match.

Kabaddi

Nepal faced a 33-29 defeat at the hands of hosts Indonesia in the preliminary group round match. Nepal and Indonesia are in Group B along with Japan, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan. Nepal will now face Japan on Tuesday and take on Iran and Malaysia on Wednesday. Nepal will end the league round campaign with a match against Pakistan on August 23.

(Photo Courtesy: AP/NSC/NSJF)