KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 28

Nepali men's golfers made a satisfactory start in the golf tournament under the 19th Asian Games, while the women players were well below expectations, at the West Lake International Golf Course in Hangzhou today.

Pro Sukra Bahadur Rai was the best among the Nepali golfers carding a two-under 70, while amateur Sadbhav Acharya shot one-under 71. Top amateur Subash Tamang played even-par 72, while Yuvaraj Bhujel returned two-over 74 in the first round.

Nepal No 1 professional golfer Rai carded two-under 34 before the taking the turn and played even-par 36 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the second and eighth holes in the bogey-free front nine. Rai then carded third birdie of the day on the 11th hole and was cruising towards a good score but he dropped a shot on the final hole. Rai shared the 31st position with six other golfers.

The 17-year-old Acharya carded one-under 35 on the front nine before playing even-par 36 on the latter half. He carded birdies on the second and eighth holes and in between dropped a shot on the fifth. After taking the turn, Acharya faced a bogey on the 16th before carding a birdie on the next hole. Acharya was in the pack of nine golfers sharing the 38th position.

No 1 amateur Tamang - who caught a fever the day he landed in China and was not able to take part in the first practice session with the teammates - carded even-par 36 on both halves.

He carded three birdies on the second, seventh and ninth holes but he dropped a shot in sixth and suffered a double bogey on the fourth.

After taking the turn, Tamang faced a bogey on the 11th and carded a birdie on next hole. He was tied for 47th place with five other golfers.

Another golfer, Bhujel recovered on the latter half carding one-under 35 after he faltered to three-over 39 on the front nine. He dropped a shot on the third hole and faced a triple bogey on the sixth. Bhujel then carded three birdies on the eighth, 10th and 12th holes to come back into the game but he dropped a shot on the next hole and saved pars on the last five holes to share the 58th position with five others.

South Korea's Y Jang carded an impressive 11-under 61 and he was one stroke ahead of Hong Kong's T Kho.

Korea's W Cho, China's G Chen and Japan's M Sumiuchi shared the third place at nine-under 63.

Singapore duo Kaj Leow and D Koh were tied for sixth along with Thailand's P Khongwatmai at 64, while India's Anirban Lahiri and Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman were among the six golfers tied for ninth at 65. A total of 82 golfers, including top professional golfers of the region, are taking part in the 72-hole tournament.

In team event, Nepal were tied for 12th position with Sri Lanka with the total score of three-under 213. South Korea at the top at 26-under 190 and they are four strokes ahead of Singapore (194). Japan are third at 195, two strokes ahead of Thailand.

India and Hong Kong shared the fifth place at 200.

In women's individual event, Nepali players Kashmira Shah and Sushma Sigdel failed to live up to the expectations. Sigdel played 16-over 88, while Shah shot 20-over 92. Sigdel and Shah are at the 36th and 38th positions respectively in the 39-player field. Mongolia's I Dolgorsuren was at the bottom with the score of 21- over 93.

With the total score of 36- over 180, Nepal are at the 13th place in team event, three shots ahead of bottom team Mongolia. China and Japan are at the top with the score of 10-under 134, while Thailand are third at 136.

Nepal's miserable performance continued for the sixth straight day in Hangzhou with not even a single athlete coming close to winning a medal. Nepal played a 1-1 draw with Bangladesh in women's football, while the men's badminton team made it to the quarter-finals.

The team of Prince Dahal, Sunil Joshi and Bishnu Katuwal defeated Mongolia 3-1 in the Round of 16 match.

The women's team of Rashila Maharjan, Nangshal Tamang and Anu Maya Rai faced a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Malaysia.

In boxing, Nepal's Rabin Thapa fell to North Korean boxer in the Round of 16 bout in the men's 45-51kg weight category. He had made a winning start beating Indonesian boxer in the first round match becoming the first Nepali boxer to win a bout in the Hangzhou Asiad but he faced a 5-0 defeat at the hands of North Korean opponent.

In squash, the Nepali team of Amrit Thapa Magar, Arhant Keshar Simha and Amir Blon suffered a 3-0 defeat against India. Likewise, Anushiya Tandukar finished third in her heat completing the 50m freestyle event in 29.53 seconds. But she finished 26th overall. In fencing's Sabre event, Nepali men's team suffered a 45-15 defeat against Kazakhstan, while the women's team faced 45-10 loss to Japan.

In table tennis, Nabita Shrestha and Sikka Suwal both faced defeats. Shrestha went down 4-0 against India's Manika Batra in the Round of 32 match, while Suwal suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Japanese opponent.

Shrestha and Suwal then faced a 4-0 loss to China in women's doubles.

In women's football, Nepal rallied for a 1-1 draw with Bangladesh. Sabina Khatun put Bangladesh ahead in the 44th minute, while Rekha Paudel levelled the scores in the 82nd minute.

The Group D match was just a formality as both Nepal and Bangladesh had already been eliminated. Nepal - who took part in the women's football for the first time - had faced a 2-0 defeat against Vietnam in the first match, while they went down 8-0 against Japan.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 29, 2023, of The Himalayan Times