Bijay Gautam of Nepal seen paragliding in the 2018 Asian Games, at Gunung Mas Puncak, West Java, Indonesia, on August 20, 2018. Photo: REUTERS
KATHMANDU: The Nepali paragliders today grabbed the first 2018-Asiad medal in cross-country paragliding at the Gunung Mas Puncak in West Java, Indonesia.
The men’s cross country paragliding team touched down on the silver lines to add a silver medal to Nepal’s medal-tally.
Although the paragliding race was affected by poor weather conditions forcing authorities to trim the task duration from 25 kilometres to 12.5 kilometres, Nepal performed exceptionally well to finish second to Japan to secure the medal.
On the downside, the Nepali paragliders fell short of meager 28 points combined to beat Japan and haul home a gold medal. However, today’s achievement, to all Nepali’s delight, has come after a 20-year-long wait since Sarita Rajbhandari bagged a silver medal in Taekwondo at Bangkok in 1998.
“This is the biggest achievement for us,” buoyant Coach Yogesh Bhattarai said. “This win and the medal is for all the Nepali people.”
Likewise, Nepal skipper Bimal Adhikari hailed his team’s performance and expressed hope that his squad will bag more medals in the upcoming competitions.
With this, Nepal has registered two Silver medals at the Asian Games and took the all time medal-tally to 24 medals.
Written by Prahlad Rijal
This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/nepal-bag-first-medal-in-2018-asian-games/ under the title “Nepal bag first medal in 2018 Asian Games”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
