Colombo, August 21 :

Raj Kumar Rasaili and Dhanbir Maharjan entered the final of the newly included Wushu event at the 10th South Asian Games (SAG) here today.

At St Joseph College, Rasaili — who has been considered a strong contender for the gold medal — knocked out Sri Lankan opponent Sampat 2-0 in the 52kg san-shou event, while Bhushan Bajracharya made it to the 70kg section final with a 2-0 win over Lvis Mishanta of Sri Lanka with the same margin.

In the 60kg section San Shou, Beg Bahadur Pandey was beaten by India’s Bimal Jeet Singh in the semi-finals and Shyam Bista lost to India’s Rajendra Singh in the 65kg semi-finals. Both Pandey and Bista were limited to a bronze each.

The event was included from this edition in the regional tournament. Bina Khadka maintained her lead in the women’s Nan Quan event with 8.91 points. India’s S Choki is second with 8.86 points followed by Sri Lankan Damayanti at 8.85 points.

Bhuvan Shrestha failed to maintain her lead on the second day and remained at the second position with 8.87 points after India’s Tusi Bala accumulated 8.9 points to lead the standings.

Pancha Man Maharjan, who was at third position on the first day with 8.88 points, jumped one spot ahead with 8.91 points.

In Kabaddi, Nepal’s women team lost to stronghold India 14-76 in the last league round match. India advanced to the final while Nepal will play Bangladesh in the bronze-medal match.

At National Youth Centre, Nepali players were totally outplayed by their Indian opponents. Nepal could manage just eight points in the first half, and six in the second, while India earned 38 each in both the halves. Nepal lost all the three matches in the league round and will fight against Bangladesh for third place.

In men’s section, the Nepali team lost to India by a huge margin of 17-77. This was Nepal’s third consecutive loss in the event.

In Weightlifting, Gyan Bahadur Shrestha won a bronze medal in the 85kg section today. A day after Kamal Bahadur Adhikari made history winning the gold medal, Shrestha bagged the third position lifting 266kg, just one kilogram less than silver medallist TMUB Jayathileke of Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s Muhammed Irfan clinched the gold with a lift of 285kgs.

Another lifter Puntilal Yadav finished fourth in 94kg weight category. He lifted 245 kilograms and was a distant fourth. Pakistan’s Shuja Uddin, Sri Lankan DKR Jayathileke and Bangladesh’s Biddut Kumar Roy claimed top three spots respectively.

In cycling, the only participant from Nepal, Nirjala Tamrakar, was not impressive in the time trail of the Road Race. She finished 15th in the 16-women field with the timings of 37 minutes 51.62 seconds out of the total 16 participants.