KATHMANDU, APRIL 03

Gajendra Rai and Pushpa Bhandari won the titles of the first Kisunji Memorial Open Half Marathon here on Saturday.

The Tribhuvan Army Club athlete Rai finished the 21km distance on one hour, six minutes and 51 seconds to finish first ahead of his club mates Khagendra Bhat (1:7:20) and Ramji Basnet (1:9:39).

In women's section, Nepal APF Club athlete Bhandari came first in 1:23:37, while TAC's Purna Laxmi Neupane was a distant second in 1:28:41 and APF's Asha Rawat was third in 1:6:49.

Top three athletes in both sections received Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

Meanwhile, the organisers Nepal Democratic Sports Association felicitated former athletes Baikuntha Manandhar, Jit Bahadur KC and Pushpa Raj Ojha, legendary boxer Suresh Ale Magar and sports journalists Shyam Chitrakar and handed over Rs 5,000 each. A version of this article appears in the print on April 4, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.