Lalitpur, August 29 Karatekas Manday Kaji Shrestha and Chanchala Danuwar earned berths in the South Asian Games individual kata section, here today. The eighth National Games gold medallist Shrestha defeated Parsuram Bastola in the individual kata in the final selection tournament, while he also sealed his place in the team kata along with Prabin Manandhar and Malvush Tamang. Binod Gurung is reserve player in team kata. In women’s section, Danuwar booked berth in the SA Games ahead of Subhadra Shrestha, while Nirmala Tamang, Sageeta Magar and Saru Karki qualified for the team kata with Kopila Bista being the reserve player. In kumite section, Sonam Lama (50kg) and Laxman Tamang (55kg) earned berths in their weight categories. In 60kg, Rajeev Pudasaini beat Raj Kumar Rasaili, while Navin Rasaili defeated Arjun Bagchand in 67kg. Ganga Ram Kuswar and Mukunda Maharjan finished as top two in 75kg, while Diwas Shrestha and Sushil Paudyal did so in below-84kg. Biplov Lal Shrestha and Lekh Raj Mainali claimed top two spots in above-84kg section. The gold medallists from 60kg to above-84kg will fight in individual category, while the runners-up will participate in team fight. In women’s category, Kusum Khadka and Anu Adhikari sealed their berths in 45kg and 50kg sections respectively. Manisha Chaudhary and Sushmita Waiba (55kg), Anu Gurung and Asthar Rai (61kg), Sunita Maharjan and Sunny Tamang (below-68kg), and Anupama Magar and Reeta Karki (above-68kg) claimed top two spots respectively. The gold medallists from 55kg to above-68kg will fight in individual category, while the runners-up will participate in team fight. The major upset of the day was Bijay Shrestha in the 55kg weight category after the gold medal hopeful karateka failed to find place in the national team and SA Games squad. “He was such a brilliant player but he could not perform in the selection tournament as he was yet to fully recover from the injury sustained during training,” said national team manager Ravi Maharjan. “Laxman Tamang, who qualified in the weight category is also a good player. After the final selection, we can say that Nepal will win at least six gold medals in the SA Games,” added the eighth SAF Games gold medal winning karateka Maharjan. Veteran karatekas including the likes of 11th SA Games medallists Binod Shakya, Amrita Shakya, Binod Shakya, Ram Limbu and Binod Maharjan failed to get selected in the national team. Out of the 108 players who were called up for preliminary training, 33 karatekas earned their places in the squad from today’s selection and all of them will represent the country in the 13th SA Games slated for December 1-10 in Kathmandu and Pokhara.