NOC team triumphs

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: The team of Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) and Nepali Olympians thrashed the team of Briotish Embassy and British Council 8-2 in a friendly match here at the Nepal APF Headquarters grounds on Saturday. Taekwondo ace Sangina Baidya scored a hat-trick, while Dhirendra Pradhan and Kushal Shrestha netted two each and Chandra Kala Thapa score one for the NOC team. Kabir Khadgi and Binay Karmacharya replied for the embassy team. The match was played for the success of 2012 London Olympic Games.

Veterans TT

KATHMANDU: Manohari Thapa of NTV won the men’s above-50 years gold in the third Anup Memorial Veterans Table Tennis Tournament here on Saturday. In the final match, Manohari toiled to beat 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 victory over Jagdishwor Prasad Joshi. In the men’s above-55 years final, Ananda Dhakhwa beat Uday Mohan Shrestha 11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 11-9, while Indra Shekhar Khadka gold saw off Suresh Bajracharya 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 to take above-45 years gold. Likewise, Udaya Raj Sharma won above-60 title and Kapoor Sharma won men’s open gold. Meanwhile, Hira Nakarmi lifted the women’s title.

Three on top

KATHMANDU: Bijaya Dangol of hosts Annapurna, Nitesh Adhikari of Suryodaya, Jhapa and Raj Prajapati of Khwapring Academy shared lead in the U-15 boys category of the eight Annapurna Friendly Inter-school Chess Tournament with four points each here on Saturday. In the U-13 boys’ event, Bikesh Jaiswal of Annapurna, Process Shrestha of Rajan Memorial and Sanjaya Shrestha of Greenland shared lead with four points each. Beena Jaiswal of Deepjyoti is the lone leader in the girls’ section of the category with four points. Likewise, Ashish Neupane and Bishal Sunuwar of Greenland lead the boys’ U-9 with three points, while Anusha Pandey from the same school lead the girls section with three points.

Woods in hunt

San Francisco: Tiger Woods charged into a share of the lead in the second round of the US Open on Friday as Rory McIlroy’s title defense collapsed on another brutal day at the Olympic Club. Woods had the galleries buzzing with anticipation that his major championship drought was about to end as he conjured up all his old magic to tame the notoriously difficult course and join Jim Furyk and David Toms in a three-way tie for the lead at one-under par 139. Woods maintained his composure to finish with an even par 70 after Furyk, the 2003 US Open champion, set the standard with a 69 and Toms, the 2001 PGA Championship winner, matched Woods with a 70 as the sun started to set in Northern California.