Kathmandu, May 26 Manita Shrestha Pradhan became the first Nepali woman judoka to win a bout in the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong today. Pradhan, the 12th South Asian Games silver medal winning judoka, defeated K Kwok of Hong Kong in the first round of the women’s Under-57kg weight category and advanced to the second round. She secured a wazari point after playing the full match. Pradhan, however, lost to Mongolia’s S Dorjsuren under a wazari and an ippon that ended her hopes of winning a medal. The achievement is first by a Nepali woman judo player in the Asian Championships, which is regarded as the Olympics of Judo. The 17-year-old Pradhan won the Asian Championship bout for the first time in 29 years. Rishi Ram Pradhan had won a bout against Macau’s player in the 1998 Asian Judo Championship held in Syria, while Ganga Bahadur Dangol had defeated players from Kuwait and the Philippines in the 1986 Asian Games in South Korea. Following Pradhan’s victory on Friday, Nepal registered their second victory in 37 bouts played by the country’s judokas so far in the Asian Championships. In other women’s section matches, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games participant Phupu Lhamu Khatri faced a defeat at the hands of Chinese player J Li on wazari in the U-67kg bout, while Lila Adhikari lost to D Park of South Korea in the U-52kg on the basis of osaekomi. In men’s category, Indra Shrestha faced defeat against Y Zromakanov of Kazakhstan in the U-66kg, while Kiran Gadel lost to Y Park of North Korea in the U-60kg section and Sanjit Dangol went down to M Rebahi of Qatar in the U-73kg weight category. Another Nepali player Mohan Sunuwar is scheduled to play against Singapore’s G Chow on the final day of the championship which is being participated in by a total of 242 judokas from 28 nations.