Gurung wins three golds on Day-I

Lalitpur, June 7

Shirish Gurung of Tribhuvan Army Club won three gold medals on the first day of the 13th Galaxy Cup Inter-school Age-group and Open Swimming Championship here at the International Sports Complex pool today.

Gurung, who has been selected as one of the six athletes for the Olympic Scholarship programme for Rio Games, bagged gold medals in the 200m freestyle along with 50m and 100m butterfly events. Kiran Karki, Sorina Bista and Oshina Bharati claimed two gold medals each on the first day.

Gurung completed the 200m freestyle event in two minutes and 18.79 seconds, finishing ahead of Anubhav Subba (2:28.13) and Avirajan Shini Thakuri (2:30.80). In the 100m butterfly, Gurung won gold in one minute and 10.87 seconds, while Anubhav Subba came second in 1:16.28 and Nisir Yagha Hussain was third in 1:21.39. Likewise, Gurung won 50m butterfly gold with the timing of 29.31 seconds, finishing ahead of TAC swimmers Bhishma Baduwal (29.84) and Dilip Thapa Magar (30.30).

In other men’s events, TAC swimmer Karki won 50m and 200m breaststroke gold medals, while Anubhav Subba of DAV claimed 100m backstroke gold. Karki finished first in 50m breaststroke with the timing of 33.75 seconds, while he won 200m breaststroke gold in two minutes and 52.37 seconds. Likewise, Subba took 100m backstroke gold in one minute and 21.94 seconds.

In women’s section, Sorina Bista won 50m and 200m breaststroke gold medals. The TAC swimmer claimed 50m event in 39.65 seconds, finishing ahead of Niharika Tuladhar (40.93) and Aksara Singh (45.90). She then won 200m backstroke gold with the timing of 3:21.69, while Shreetika Singh came second in 3:37.94 and Aksara Singh was third in 3:44.93.

Another TAC swimmer Oshina Bharati bagged 100m backstroke and 50m butterfly gold medals. Bharati won 100m back in 1:23.63, finishing ahead of Shreetika Singh (1:27.00) and Niharika Tuladhar (1:30.50). Bharati claimed the 50m butterfly in 36.16 seconds, while Shreetika Singh came second on 36.81 seconds and Tisa Shakya was third in 37.89 seconds. Shreetika Singh, who finished runner-up in three events, finally claimed one gold in the 200m freestyle when she finished the distance in two minutes and 41.22 seconds. Tisa Shakya was second in 2:47.90 and Ayushma Tuladhar came third in 3:02.13.

In school and age-group competition, Ritesh Guragai (U-10 boys’ 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly), Duana Lama (girls’ 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly), Nisir Yagha Hussain (U-12 boys’ 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly), Adipsha Vaidya (U-12 girls’ 50m backstroke), Bedagya Raj Joshi (U-14 boys’ 50m breaststroke), Ayushma Tuladhar (U-14 girls’ 50m breaststroke), Kiran Karki (U-17 boys’ 50m breaststroke), Niharika Tuladhar (U-17 girls’ 50m breaststroke), Ida Jakobsen (U-12 girls’ 50m butterfly), Pawel Shah (U-14 boys’ 50m butterfly), Tisa Shakya (U-14 girls’ 50m butterfly), Anubhav Subba (U-17 boys’ 50m butterfly), Oshina Bharati (U-17 girls’ 50m butterfly) won gold medals.

Likewise, Little Angels’ School and Lincoln School claimed the U-17 boys’ and girls’ 50m butterfly relay gold medals respectively. A total of 42 men and 32 women players are taking part in open category, while 146 boys and 106 girls from 39 schools are participating in the age-group events.