NO PISTOL, no final round

Shushmita Nepal of Province-3 aims target during the women’s 10-metre air rifle finals of the National Shooting Tournament under the eighth National Games in Banke on Tuesday. Photo: THT

Nepalgunj, April 23

Poor management in the eighth National Games reached its peak when the winners of the 10m Air Pistol category were declared without the final round scores, thanks to the lack of equipment.

Eight shooters, who had qualified for the finals, were supposed to hit 24 shots each simultaneously but the organisers failed to produce one each pistols for the players. The tournament was postponed for a day after the organisers failed to prepare the venue on time, while the newlybuilt range also lack minimum required facilities including lights, sounds and air conditioning.

“We were forced to declare the winners according to the scores of qualifying round as three pistols broke down during the qualifying round and we could not provide one each pistol to the players,” said Pradeep Khati, Chief Coach of Shooting and venue coordinator at the Nepalgunj Stadium covered hall.

Khati claimed that the organisers had informed all the teams about the possibility of such circumstances.

“We had notified the teams and players about this in the technical committee meeting before the tournament as we are yet to receive the equipment — three pistols and two riffles — which were imported for the eighth National Games,” said Khati.

“I am not sure why the importers could not deliver the equipment on time but I have heard that the pistols and rifles are yet to get clearance from customs,” he added. “It got delayed because we had to import the equipment through tender process.”

Bijay Karki of Province-4 had finished on top with 556 points in the qualifying round yesterday and that was enough for him to win gold medal. Suk Dev Chaudhary of Nepal Police Club came second with 546 points and Kuber KC of Tribhuvan Army Club was third with 546.

Shreya KC of Province-4 was declared the winner with 551 points, while Krishna Thapa of Province-5 was second with 536 points and Seema Tuladhar of NPC came third with 530 points.

Sushmita Nepal of Province-3 shattered the national record on her way to winning the women’s 10m Air Rifle gold medal. Nepal accumulated 234 points to break Sneha Rana’s mark of 233 points. Olympian Rana had set the record during the NSC Championship last year.

Arnav Ghimire of Province-5 won the men’s 10m Air Rifle section gold medal with the score of 216 points. Hari Bahadur Thapa of NPC came second with 214 points and Suse Chaudhary of TAC was third with 196 points.

Province-4 and Province-5 claimed two gold medals each, while Province-1 and NPC bagged one apiece.

Taekwondo

Nepal Police Club won the team championship of National Taekwondo Tournament under the eighth National Games in Bhairahawa. NPC claimed 11 gold and three each silver and bronze medals. Tribhuvan Army Club finished second with six gold, four silver and seven bronze medals, while Nepal APF Club came third with two gold, seven silver and five bronze medals. Out of 21 each gold and silver medals, departmental teams bagged 19 and 14 respectively. Province-1 and Province-5 claimed one each gold medal. Sakshyam Karki of TAC and Rejina Karki of NPC were declared the best fighters, while Ranjan Shrestha of NPC was named the best coach.

Cricket

Nepal Police Club and Nepal APF Club advanced to the men’s section final of the National Cricket Tournament at the proposed Kohalpur International Stadium.

NPC defeated Tribhuvan Army Club by three runs, while APF registered a eight-wicket victory over Province-1 in the semi-final matches. The final is slated for Wednesday. Nepal APF Club won the women’s section title with an 87-run victory against Province-1.