DHAKA: Karetakas Binod Shakya and Ganga Adhikari won kumite gold medals but Kushal Shrestha failed to defend his title during the 11th South Asian Games here at the Soharawardy Indoor Stadium today. The 10th SA Games bronze medallist Shakya grabbed the gold in the Men’s U-75kg kumite beating Mohammed Nifaz of Sri Lanka 7-4 in final. Earlier, the karateka saw off Ainud In of Pakistan in the first round before dispatching Sayed Ahmed of Afghanistan in the semi-finals. “I am happy that my hard work finally paid off,” Shakya said after her victory. “If one keeps on working hard, s/he is bound to succeed one day. My win here has proved that,” added the jubilant karateka. In the women’s U-61kg kumite, Adhikari eased past Zainab of Afghanistan 5-1 in final to bag the gold in her first ever international tournament. Adhikari earlier defeated Gulsoon of Pakistan in the first round and Revathi of India in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Kushal suffered a humiliating 0-8 loss against Sadi Abbas of Pakistan in the first round of the Men’s U-67kg kumite but was lucky to have walked away with a bronze. The Colombo gold medalist struggled to a narrow 8-7 win over Md Sujon of Bangladesh in the bronze medal (repechage) fight. Binod Maharjan rounded up a very good day for karate as he claimed silver in Men’s U-60kg kumite. Maharjan, who had a first round bye, defeated Nasir of Pakistan in semi-finals 8-1 but lost against Mohammad Tamim of Afghanistan 7-8 in final. Nepal won medals in all four events today while they grabbed just two of the six held on Sunday. Wushu SYLHET: Aang Babu Lama claimed the second wushu gold medal here on Monday. Competing in Men’s Thaulo, Lama scored a record breaking 19 points to put his Indian opponent behind for the second place. Lama said that he was happy to keep his word with his mother. “Our sports would have moved far ahead if we think of giving the nation than seeking something from the country,” said the player. He had accumulated 9.60 points in Thaichi Quan on Sunday and added another 9.40 Thaichi Chen on Monday for a total of 19 points. Modun Maring of India won silver with 18.77out of 20 points. Lama’s score was the best of the SA Games which he scored in his second international participation. He had also claimed gold in his first international appearance in 2008 SAF Wushu Championship. Coach Prakash Lama said he was sure of Lama’s comfortable win. “His standard is very high and I was sure the player would win quite easily,” added the Nepali coach. The coach also credited the three-week training in China for his players’ good showing. Raju Maharjan, meanwhile, finished fourth in the Nan Quan event though he scored 18 points. All in all, Wushu had a great success here with six of 10 players winning medal. Binita Maharjan and Aang Babu won gold while Purushottam Rijal and Bikash Maharjan clinched silver medals. Likewise, Jharna Gurung and Alina Chaudhary bagged bronze medals. Football Dhaka: Nepal lost the controversial women’s football championship match 1-3 against India here at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today. The Nepali women team underwent similar circumstances that forced the men’s team out of the tournament from the group stage. Controversial penalty was the result of Nepal’s defeat in both the men’s and women’s football. Nepal, who lost to the same opponent 0-5 during the round robin league, was a different team altogether today. Although they were put under tremendous pressure from the outset, the Nepali defenders held firm to thwart any danger. The Nepali girls stunned the tournament favorites when skipper Jamuna Gurung put her team ahead in the 25th minute capitalizing on a cross from Laxmi Poudel. Nepal held on to the lead until the first half. The things all went wrong for the Nepali team after the break. India were awarded the penalty in the 52nd minute in a farcical manner. Malaysian referee Binti Gani penalized defender Dipa Chetry for a foul on Tababi Devi Thongram without even checking the Assistant referee Fang Yang of China who had been raising offside flag even before awarding the spot kick. India captain Oinam Bembem Devi converted the penalty but Assistant referee ruled out the goal for offside. Referee Gani and her assistant Yang had a long discussion and the penalty was then overturned. Now it was the time for Indian team to protest. The referee again bowed to the pressure of the Indian players and decided to allow the Indians to retake the penalty. Furious over the fickle refereeing decision, Nepali players held the game for about 25 minutes. Nepali team manager Sanjeev Mishra finally signaled his managers to continue the game and the skipper converted the spot kick again. Nepal conceded two more goals thereafter - Tababi Devi making it 2-0 in the 72nd and Amoolya Jayaram scoring the third in the 82nd minute. Defender Bhagwati Thapa had to be rushed to hospital after sustaining a minor injury in the chest. The Bangabandhu Stadium looked more like a fighting club soon after the referee blew the final whistle. Nepal’s team manager Mishra had entered the field to protest for showing just five minutes of added time but his action invited unwanted trouble for the organizers. Infuriated Nepali girls charged the Malaysian referee and it took quite a while for the security personnel and the local volunteers to lead the referee to safety. Table Tennis

DHAKA: Muna Basukala handed Nepal two bronze medals in table tennis here at the 11th South Asian Games on Monday. Basukala lost to Madhunika Patkar India 5-11, 6-11, 9-11, 8-11 in straight sets in the semi-final to be restricted for a bronze medal in the Women’s Singles. With the bronze, Basukala also became the first Nepali player to win a medal in singles after 19 years. Sizirin Shah had last reached the semi-finals in the fifth SAF Games in 1991. Basukala also combined with veteran Gita Thapa Magar to win the Women’s Doubles bronze medal. The duo lost the semi-final match 12-14, 8-11, 4-11. Men’s Team had already provided Nepal the bronze medal.

Medal Tally

India 88 53 28 169 Pakistan 19 25 36 80 Bangladesh 18 23 55 96 Sri Lanka 16 34 52 102 Nepal 7 9 20 36 Afghanistan 7 9 16 32 Bhutan 0 2 3 5 Maldives 0 0 2 2 Total 155 1155 212 522