Lifter Pun breaks national records

Tara Devi Pun of Nepal lifts weight during the women’s 75kg weight category event.

Kathmandu, August 26

Lifter Tara Devi Pun shattered national record, while paragliding maintained their third position after the second round in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta today.

The 12th South Asian Games bronze medallist, Pun bettered her own marks in women’s 75kg weight category. She lifted 74kg in snatch and 101kg in clean and jerk for the total of 175kg. She had set the national records of 73kg, 97kg and 170kg during the Asian Games selection tournament two months ago.

Pun lifted 70kg in first attempt and failed to lift 74kg in second attempt. But she was able to break the national mark in snatch in third attempt when she lifted 74kg. In clean and jerk, she lifted 93kg in first attempt, broke the national record of 97kg by lifting 98kg in her second attempt and bettered that mark by lifting 101kg in third attempt.

A total of four lifters represented Nepal in the Asian Games. Sanju Chaudhary and Kamal Bahadur Adhikari also broke national records in their respective categories, while Bikash Thapa failed to leave his mark in the Asiad.

After the day’s results, Nepal have completed participation in 18 out of 29 sports disciplines and are yet to touch medal in Jakarta. While taekwondo returned empty-handed for the third time in a row, swimmers even failed to meet the expectations of breaking a couple of national records. Wushu, wrestling, football, kabbadi, cycling, pancak silat, fencing, shooting, tennis, volleyball, archery, badminton, golf, sport climbing and basketball also just completed the formality of participation in Indonesia.

Table Tennis

Nepal faced defeats in both men’s and women’s team events of table tennis on Sunday. The men’s team of Amar Lal Malla, Syantoo Shrestha and Deep Saun lost 3-0 at the hands of China and Malaysia in Group A matches. The women’s team of Nabita Shrestha, Swechhya Nembang and Rabina Maharjan suffered identical 3-0 losses against Malaysia and Singapore in five-team Group D.

Boxing

Boxer Bishnu Prasad Ghale Gurung (left) of Nepal fights against Qatar’s Thulasimaaran Tharumalingam during the men’s 69kg round of 16 bout.

Boxers Bishnu Prasad Ghale Gurung and Prem Chaudhary faced defeats in first round. Gurung lost 5-0 at the hands of Thulasimaaran Tharumalingam of Qatar in men’s Welterweight (69kg) category round of 16 bout, while Chaudhary suffered 5-0 loss against Rogen Laden of the Philippines in men’s Flyweight (52kg) round pre-quarters round. In women’s flyweight, Bimala Shrestha lost 4-1 against Jargalan Ochirbat of Mongolia.

Karate

A day after two karatekas contested in bronze medal match, three Nepali players faced defeats in the first round on Sunday. Sonam Lama, Bijay Lama and Sunita Maharjan failed to register victories in their respective weight categories in kumite. On Monday, Anu Lama and Dibash Shrestha will take part in their weight categories.

Paragliding

The men’s team maintained its third position with the total score of 2,949 in the Team Cross Country event at the Gunung Mas Puncak in West Java. The team of Bimal Adhikari, Bijay Gautam, Sushil Gurung, Yukesh Gurung and Bishal Thapa accumulated 694 points to remain at the third position after the second round. Nepal had scored 2,255 in the first round, but none of the participating pilots from 10 nations could complete the 25km distance due to unfavourable weather condition.

Hosts Indonesia, who earned 901 points in the second round, are at the top with 3,818, while South Korea, who managed 689 to add to the overnight score of 2500, are second with 3,189. Japan (2765) and Malaysia (1994) are other two nations in top five in the 10-team competition which will be played over five rounds. In women’s section, Nepal slipped one spot down to fifth with the total score of 638 points. The team of Trisha Shrestha Bomjan Tamang, Prativa Bhujel and Sabita Tamang accumulated 353 points on the second day. South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand are the top four teams after the second round. Like in men’s section, the participating teams will compete over five rounds in the 10-nation tournament.

Sepaktakraw

Nepal’s Regu team faced a 2-0 loss against China in their Group B match on Sunday. The team of Rupesh Sunar, Dipesh Jung Thapa, Govinda Magar, Sanjeet Dhimal and Rabin Bhattarai faced 21-4, 21-9 defeat in the third match. Nepal had lost in straight sets of 2-0 against Malaysia and South Korea on Saturday. The team will play against India on Monday.

Golf

(From left) Prithvi Malla, Ajit BK, Tanka Bahadur Karki and Sukra Bahadur Rai during the fourth round of golf tournament in Jakarta on Sunday.

Nepali golfers failed to put up impressive performance in the Asian Games golf tournament at the Pondok Indah Golf and Country Club in Jakarta. Sukra Bahadur Rai was the best among the four players but he also finished well below 50. Rai shot nine-over 81 for the 72-hole total score of 27-over 315 to finish 58th in the 86-man field. Tanka Bahadur Karki was 60th with 29-over after he played five-over 77 in the final round. Prithvi Malla (77) came 74th with 36-over 324, while Ajit BK shared the 78th position at 39-over 327. Keita Nakajima of Japan won gold medal with the total score of 11-under 277, while South Korea’s Seungtaek Oh (278) bagged silver and China’s Cheng Jin (279) came third. In team event, Nepal finished 17th among 20 nations. Nepal posted the total score of 87-over 951 in 72-hole contest. Japan, China and South Korea won top three spots respectively.