Ayasha clinches gold as Malaysia dominate

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU:The 11th South Asian (SA) Games gold medallist Ayasha Shakya claimed women’s 49-53kg category title on the Malaysia-dominated second day of the first Mt Everest International Taekwondo Championships here today.

Malaysia won three gold medals defeating Nepali players in all three title bouts to go top of the table, while Bangladesh won their first gold medal of the tournament. Nepali players made it to the finals of all five events today but only the 15th Asian Games bronze medallist won gold.

Aashish Maharjan (men’s 63-68kg) and debutant trio Ram Giri (men’s above-87kg), Tara Kumar Rayamajhi (men’s 54kg) and Pratigya Bhandari (women’s 62-67kg) were restricted to silver medals.

Ayasha outplayed Jazzmyn Paguirigan of the United States 9-2 in final. She scored five points conceding just one — for a double caution — in the second period after both failed to open their accounts in the first round. Ayasha won the slap kick review appeal to open her account with three points. She also landed another slap kick in the final round.

Ayasha had knocked out Shermaine Julang Tames of Malaysia 11-3 in the semi-finals. Ayasha, who had also won a silver medal in the 10th South Asian Games, hit two slap kicks and a back kick during her semi-final bout. Shermaine abandoned the match after the second round. Jazzmyn had defeated Pema Doma Tamang of India 7-3 in the other semi-final match.

Ayasha was disappointed that only she managed to clinch gold with five Nepali players in the finals. “I was

a bit worried after three of our players before me lost their finals,” she said. “The American player gave me a tough fight but I managed to pull it off,” added Ayasha who won her first international gold medal since victory in the sixth Korean Open Taekwondo Championships last year.

Ram, who battled to a 6-5 win over Shoukar Hussain of Pakistan in semi-finals, lost to Wong Vai Meng of Malaysia 9-2. The Nepali player earned both the points through double cautions to the Malaysian opponents. Ram had beaten Bangladeshi Md Rasiul Kabir 15-5 in the first round.

Wong had opened the day with a 13-1 win over Indian

Zaheer Abbas Khan before seeing off John Drath of the

United States 3-1 in the semi-finals. Ram said he was

made to pay for his own mistakes. “He (Meng) capitalised on my blunder to win the

final but I am happy to win

silver in my first international outing,” he said.

Tara Kumar suffered a 12-5 loss at the hands of Jamestee Chow Sheng of Malaysia. Tara, who pipped Chow Hokan of Hong Kong 9-8 in the first round, received three slap kicks during the title match. Jamestee had beaten Suraj Ali of India 13-2 in the semi-finals.

Aashish, meanwhile, became the third victim of

the Malaysian opponent. Aashish, who conceded two points through double cautions in the second round, lost to Mohammed Afifuddin

Bin Omar Sidek 4-2 in final.

He made it to the title bout with a 13-2 rout over Puduk Buchi of India, who quit the match after the second round. Afifuddin had defeated Md Korban Ali of Bangladesh 11-1 in the first round.

In the competitive women’s 62-67kg category final, Pratigya went down 8-10 against Bangladeshi player Shrboni Biswas, who was drawn directly for the title clash. Only three players were in fray in the category. Pratigya started the third and final round leading 5-4 but lost her way in the later stages after conceding a three-pointer for a slap kick. Pratigya had defeated Ishering Ongmu Bhutra of India 7-3 in her previous match.

The 15-year-old Pratigya blamed her defeat to the injury she sustain during her match against Bhutra. Sujan Joshi, Anoj Pujari, Badri Nath Basnet, Apsara Karki and Gyani Chunara will compete on the closing day on Saturday.