Sinjali, Tamang bag wushu gold medals

Kathmandu, December 3

Bijay Sinjali and Sushmita Tamang won gold medals in wushu tournament under the 13th South Asian Games here at the Nepali Army Sports Complex covered hall today.

Both the wushukas finished first in Changquan event of Taolu. Sinjali earned 9.48 points to win his first gold medal in the regional games.

Competing as the fifth and final performer in the event, Sinjali showed confidence and impressed the judges to earn the highest point. Bangladesh’s Mohammad Omar came second with 9.34 points, while India’s Anjul bagged bronze medal with 9.16 points.

In women’s section, Tamang came in first and her brilliant performance earned her 9.44 points in the three-player field. Sri Lanka PHG Wathsala won silver with 8.85 points, while Bangladesh’s Nur Bahadur Begum came third with 7.53 points.

“I am extremely happy today as I could win gold medal this time around,” said Sinjali, who had bagged silver medal in the previous edition in Shillong three years ago. “I would like to remember my mother, coaches and federation in this happy moment.” Sinjali said he was not able to sleep properly last night.

“I was thinking about the gold medal whole night as I wanted to win it for the country at any cost. After winning gold in SA Games, I have a strong feeling that I can win medal in Asian Games as well,” he said.

Sinjali said the dream of running around the arena with the national flag after winning the gold medal had come true. “I also wanted to do so after watching our seniors running around the arean with national flag and today I could raise the flag high,” said Sinjali. “It was a dream and it came true today.”

Another gold medallist, Tamang was not able to speak out of excitement. “I had set the target of winning gold medal ever since I finished second in the previous edition in Shillong. And I am too much happy today as I could fulfill my dreams of winning gold medal,” said Tamang. “I had motivated myself to be confident and the result is the outcome of hard works put in by my coaches for the last five months,” she said. “I felt really proud when I could carry my national flag and take a lap around the arena,” she added.

Volleyball

KATHMANDU: India came from a set down to beat Pakistan 3-1 in the men’s section final. Pakistan won the first set 25-20 before India bounced back and recorded 25-15, 25-17, 29-27 victories in the next three sets to win the gold medal. In women’s section final, Nepal put up a brave performance before losing 3-2 against India.

Nepal fell behind after losing the first set 25-17 but the home side bounced back hard to take lead by winning the next two sets 25-23, 25- 21. India levelled the scores after they won the fourth set 25-20 pushing the match to the final set. The home team players, who gave a tough time to India in the first four sets, failed to keep the momentum going and faced a 15-6 defeat. In their previous encounter, Nepal had lost 3-0 against in the group stage match on November 28.

The silver medal won by the women’s national team is a historic one. The women’s team had previously won three bronze medals in the 1999, 2006 and 2016 editions.

Lawn Tennis

LALITPUR: Nepal crashed out of team events of tennis tournament.

Both Nepali teams faced identical 3-0 defeats against India in the semi-finals.

India will face Pakistan in men’s section final, while they are up against Sri Lanka in women’s final.

Cricket

KATHMANDU: Nepal national team faced a six-wicket defeat against U-23 side of Sri Lanka in the cricket tournament at the TU Stadium. Batting first, Nepal posted 172-5 in their allotted 20 overs before the Test-playing nation reached 175-4 with five balls remaining. Vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee top scored for Nepal with an unbeaten 72 off 44 balls that included four boundaries and three sixes. Pawan Sarrad struck two fours and a six in his 13-ball 22, while skipper Gyanendra Malla and Binod Bhandari contributed 21 each. Aarif Sheikh stNeparuck two sixes in his 15-ball 19. In reply, Nepal reduced Sri Lanka to 49-3 before Shammu Ashan and Nishan Madushka took the match away from Nepal with 91-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Ashan remained unbeaten on 72 off 44 balls that included four boundaries and five sixes, while Madushka scored 42-ball 46 hitting five fours and a six.

Opener Pathum Nissanka scored 12- ball 30 with the help of three fours and two sixes.

Table Tennis

KATHMANDU: Nepal won silver medal in table tennis. Nepal finished second in men’s team event after facing a 3-0 defeat against India. Nepal had made it to the last four with 3-0 win over Bangladesh. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came joint third. In women’s section, Nepal lost 3-0 at the hands of Sri Lanka in semi-finals and bagged bronze along with Maldives.

India bagged gold beating Sri Lanka 3-0 in final.

Football

KATHMANDU: Skipper Sujal Shrestha scored a brace as Nepal opened the defense of their football gold medal with a 4-0 victory over Bhutan at the Dasharath Stadium.

Abhisek Rijal and Mikchen Tamang netted one each for the hosts. Skipper Shrestha opened the scoring in the sixth minute and added another six minutes into the second half. Rijal headed home to make it 3-0 and Tamang converted a free kick into the goal to seal the victory. The another match between Maldives and Bangladesh ended in a 1-1 draw. Bangladesh took lead in the 30th minute, thanks to an own goal from Maldives skipper Akram Abdul Ghanee. Maldives levelled the scores in the 70th minute through Ibrahim Mahudhee Hussain’s goal. After the day’s matches, Nepal lead the standing with three points, ahead of Bhutan, who also have three points after they defeated Bangladesh 1-0 on Monday. With their second draw, Maldives are third with two pints, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have one each. Top two teams after the round-robin league will make it to the final. Nepal will play against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

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