Lifter Chaudhary breaks national records

Lifter Sanju Chaudhary competes during the women’s 53kg weight category.

Kathmandu, August 21

Lifter Sanju Chaudhary set three national records, while medal hopeful taekwondo players faltered as Nepal’s pathetic run continued on the fourth day of the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia today.

Chaudhary bettered her own marks in the women’s 53kg section although she finished at the bottom among 12 participants. She lifted 72kg in snatch and 86kg in clean and jerk for the total of 158kg. She held the record of 71kg in snatch, 85kg in clean and jerk and 156kg in total, set during the Asian Games selection tournament in Nepalgunj three months ago.

On Wednesday, Olympian Kamal Bahadur Adhikari, who carried Nepal’s flag in the opening ceremony march pass on August 18, will compete in men’s 69kg weight category.

Archery

Nepal’s Gyanu Awale takes part in the ranking round of Recurve Women’s Individual event of archery during the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Tilak Pun Magar and Roshan Nagarkoti advanced to the knock out round of Recurve Men’s Individual event, while Gyanu Awale did so in women’s section. Pun Magar was the best among four Nepali archers after he accumulated 641 points in the ranking round to finish 37th among 79 participants, while Roshan Nagarkoti came 40th with 637 points. Pun Magar will face Nima Wangdi of Bhutan in round of 64, while will play against Sajeev De Silva Mahamadaachchi of Sri Lanka on Thursday.

Ashim Sherchan and Min Prasad Gauchan failed to qualify for elimination round after they fell out of top 64. Sherchan was 68th with 608 points, while Gauchan came 71st with 597 points.

In Recurve Women’s Individual event, Gyanu Awale — the lone Nepali participant in women’s section — accumulated 586 points to finish 55th among 68 participants. She will face Hong Kong’s Shuk Ching Ada Lam in the elimination round on Thursday.

In Recurve Men’s Team event, Nepal finished 14th out of 19 nations with 1,886 points and will face Qatar in the elimination round on August 25. In Recurve Mixed Team, Nepal finished 17th with 1,227 points among 24 nations.

Taekwondo

Nepal’s Gyani Chunara (right) fights against Lopez Pauline Louise of the Philippines during their below-57kg bout of taekwondo event.

Nepal’s Guani Chunara faced a humiliating 20-0 loss at the hands of Lopez Pauline Louise of the Philippines in the quarter-final match of the women’s below-57kg weight category. Chunara had made it to the last eight with a 28-6 victory over Bhutan’s Choden Kinzang in the round of 16.

Olympian Nisha Rawal faced a 22-6 defeat against China’s Pan Gao in the pre-quarters of the women’s above-67kg weight category. In men’s section, Anoj Pujari lost 21-0 defeat at the hands of Ruslan Zhaparov of Kazakhstan in men’s above-80kg section.

On Wednesday, Bir Bahadur Mahara will take on Ahmad Bakshi of Afghanistan in below-63kg weight category, while Bhupen Shrestha will play against Ramesh Hussaini of Afghanistan in men’s below 80kg section.

Likewise, Gyanendra Hamal will face Jigme

Laos’ Khamla Soukaphone fights against Nepal’s Padam Bahadur Thakulla (blue) during their men’s sanda 56kg preliminaries of the wushu event.

Wangchuk of Bhutan in  below-68kg section on Thursday and Asmita Khadka will take on Nahid Kiyanichandeh of Iran in women’s below-49kg weight category.

Wushu

Lumati Shrestha, who was directly drawn in the quarter-finals and could have confirmed the medal with one win, lost to Suchaya Bualuang of Thailand in the women’s below-60kg bout. Another wushuka, Yubaraj Thapa finished 17th in the men’s Nanquan and Nangun All-Round. He accumulated 9.20 points, the best score by a Nepali wushu player in all competitions. On Monday, the 12th South Asian Games gold medal winner Nima Gharti Magar had accumulated 9.17 points in women’s Nanquan and Nandao All-Round. On Wednesday, Sushmita Tamang will compete in Women’s Changquan.

Paragliding

Nepal’s Bijay Gautam, who was at the third position after second round, slipped to 14th after the completion of the fifth round in the Men’s Individual Accuracy event. Another Nepali paraglider Sushil Gurung maintained his position at 25th. A total of 31 players are taking part in the event which will be played over 10 rounds. In Men’s Team Accuracy section, Nepal remained at the eighth position after the fifth round. A total of 15 teams are taking part in the event which will be decided after six rounds on Wednesday.

In women’s section, Trisha Shrestha Bomjan Tamang slipped four spots down to joint 10th after the fifth round. She was at the sixth position after second round on Sunday. Another Nepali athlete, Prativa Bhujel moved six positions down to 16th out of 18 participants in Individual Accuracy event. The Nepali women’s team also fared badly as it slipped three positions down to seventh position after the completion of five rounds. The Team Accuracy event is participated in by nine teams. Nepal will also take part in Team Cross Country events.

Basketball

Nepali 3X3 basketball team suffered two losses on Tuesday. Nepal faced a 22-11 defeat at the hands of Japan in the Group C match before going down 21-8 against Qatar. Mabindra Bhandari and Nischal Maharjan netted four points each for Nepal against Japan, while they contributed three and four points respectively in the match against Qatar. Ajay Kushwaha scored one point each in both the matches. The Maldives and Jordan are the other two teams in Nepal’s group.

Swimmer Sirish Gurung dives during 50m freestyle heats.

Swimming

Olympian swimmer Sirish Gurung came third in his heats but finished 46th overall in the men’s 50m freestyle event on Tuesday. Gurung completed the distance in 26.33 seconds, way behind his own national record of 25.88. Gurung will now compete in 100m freestyle event on Thursday. On Wednesday, Olympian swimmer Gaurika Singh will take part in 200m freestyle heats, while Shubham Shrestha will swim in 100m breaststroke heats.

Kabaddi

Nepali men’s kabaddi team suffered their second straight defeat on Tuesday. In the Group B match, Nepal faced a 31-28 loss at the hands of Japan. Earlier, Nepal had lost to hosts Indonesia. On Wednesday, Nepal will play two matches — against Iran and Malaysia.