Rana sisters enter pre-quarters

Rana sisters Mahika and Mayanka of Nepal after winning the women’s doubles match against the Maldives during the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on Monday.

Kathmandu, August 20

Rana siblings Mayanka and Mahika made it to the women’s doubles round of 16 in the tennis competition of the 18th Asian Games at the JSC Tennis Court in Pelambang today.

The Rana sisters defeated the Maldives pair of Aminath Irufa Mahir and Zeina Abdul Rasheed in straight sets of 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second round of the competition. Nepali players will now face Japan in the pre-quarters. In men’s doubles, Samrakshyak Bhushan Bajracharya and Abhishek Bastola faced a 6-1, 6-1 defeat at the hands of Indian pair of Sumit Nagal and Ramanathan Ramkumar.  Nepali players will also take part in singles and mixed doubles events.

Paragliding

Bijay Gautam in action during the men’s Team Accuracy event of paragliding during the 2018 Asian Games in West Java, Indonesia, on August 20, 2018. Photo: Reuters

Nepal’s Bijay Gautam is at the third position with 13 points after the second round in the Men’s Individual Accuracy event of paragliding, which made its debut in the Asian Games. Another Nepali paraglider Sushil Gurung is at the 25th position. 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 are at the eighth position after the second round. A total of 15 teams are taking part in the event which will be decided after six rounds.

In women’s section, Trisha Shrestha Bomjan Tamang is at the sixth position, while her teammate Prativa Bhujel is 10th out of 18 participants in Individual Accuracy event. The Nepali team is at the fourth position after the second round in the Team Accuracy event which is participated in by nine teams.

Swimming

Olympian swimmer Gaurika Singh and Tisa Shakya after comepting in the 100m freestyle heats.

Swimmers Gaurika Singh and Tisa Shakya competed in the 100m freestyle heats on Monday. Out of the 27 swimmers, Olympian Singh finished 18th, while Shakya came 22nd. While Singh took one minute and 00.82 seconds to complete the distance, Shakya came home with her personal best time of one minute and 03.96 seconds. Her previous best timing in the event was 1:07.25.

Singh said he was happy with her performance in the 100m freestyle and was hoping to do even better in 50m and 200m events. “I am satisfied with today’s results,” said Singh, who holds the national record of 1:00.79 in 100m freestyle. “My aim will be to break the national record in 200m freestyle.”

Another swimmer, Shakya was happy for meeting her target in the Asian Games. “I am happy with my performance as my target was to better the personal mark in the event,” said Shakya, who will also participate in the 50m backstroke event.

On Tuesday, Olympian swimmer Sirish Gurung will participate in the 50m freestyle heats.

Wushu

The South Asian Games gold medal winning wushuka, Nima Gharti Magar finished 11th among 12 participants in the Women’s Nanquan & Nandao All-Round despite scoring the all-time best scores by a Nepali player. Gharti Magar — who won gold medal in the 12th edition of the SA Games in Shillong three years ago — accumulated 9.17 points but still finished second from bottom, ahead of Kazakhstan’s Dayana Utyamysheva. Lu Tang of China won gold with 9.74 points, while Wenchuan Tsai of Chinese Taipei (9.69) and Ka Ying Yuen of Hong Kong (9.68) bagged silver and bronze medals.

In men’s section, Yubaraj Thapa came 22nd with 8.22 points among 23 participants.

Likewise, in men’s below-56kg sanda, Padam Bahadur Thakulla faced a 2-0 defeat against Khamla Soukaphone of Laos in the round of 16 bout. Chitra Singh Thakuri suffered a 2-0 loss at the hands of Korean player Gwansik Ham in below-7k weight category, while Birman Lama withdrew because of injury before his below-65kg section bout against Khieosavath Damxoumphone of Laos.

Badminton

Shuttler Ratnajit Tamang returns to a player from Chinese Taipei during the men’s team quarter-final match.

Nepali pair of Ratnajit Tamang, Dipesh Dhami and Nabin Shrestha lost their quarter-final match against Chinese Taipei in the men’s team event. All three players faced straight set defeats as Nepal went down 3-0. The men’s team had made it to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory over Pakistan yesterday. The women’s team is already out of the race. Nepali players will now contest in singles events starting on August 24.

Taekwondo

Taekwondo player Sagar Gubhaju (left) fights against Hung Vo Quoc of Vietnam in the quarter-final bout of men’s below-58kg weight category.

Sagar Gubhaju faced a 25-5 defeat against Hung Vo Quoc of Vietnam in the quarter-final bout of men’s below-58kg weight category. Gubhaju had made it to the last eight with a 54-40 victory over Dorjee Tenzing of Bhutan in the first round match earlier on Monday.

In women’s section, Nima Gurung suffered a 23-10 loss at the hands of Aoun Laetitia of Lebanon in the round of 16 bout, while Sangita Basyel Nepali faced a 20-17 defeat against Arpon Darlene Mae of the Philippines in the below-67kg weight category.

On Tuesday, Olympian Nisha Rawal will face China’s Pan Gao in above-67kg section, while Gyani Chunara will play against Bhutan’s Choden Kinzang in below-57kg weight category. Likewise, Anoj Pujari will take on Ruslan Zhaparov of Kazakhstan in men’s above-80kg section.

Shooting

Nepal’s challenge in shooting ended on Monday after all three shooters crashed out. Sushe Chaudhary accumulated 581 points out of 645 and finished 42nd among 44 shooters in men’s 10m Air Rifle event. In women’s section, Kalpana Pariyar scored 594.8 points, while Susmita Nepal accumulated 587.1 points. Out of the 48 participants, Pariyar and Nepal finished 45th and 46th respectively.