POKHARA, OCTOBER 16
Deepak Adhikari broke national record in men's 10,000m race under the Ninth National Games at the Pokhara Stadium today.
The Tribhuvan Army Club athlete Adhikari finished the race in 30 minutes and 10.30 seconds on his way to winning gold medal. Adhikari, who had won bronze medal in the 13th South Asian Games in 2019, broke Gopi Chandra Parki's record of 30:10.99, set during the Incheon Asian Games in 2014. Nepal APF Club athlete Parki finished second in 30:38.32, while TAC's Rajendra Rai came third in 30:49.50.
TAC athlete Jayarani Tharu set new national record in 400m hurdles. Tharu won gold with record timing of one minute and 4.13 seconds improving her own mark of 1:07.2. APF's Bhagrati Kumari won silver in 1:06.06, while her teammate Kalpana Shrestha bagged bronze in 1:06.51. Surya Bahadur Khatri of TAC won men's high jump gold with a jump of 1.90 metres, while Nikesh Mahato of Bagmati and Roshan Danuwar of NPC bagged silver and bronze respectively after both of them jumped 1.75m.
Khagita Sinjali Magar of TAC won women's high jump gold medal with a jump of 1.52 metres, while her teammate Bindu Thanet bagged silver with 1.50m. Sima Shrestha of Gandaki earned bronze with a jump of 1.41m.
Cycling
Suraj Rana of Nepal APF Club won gold medal in men's Cross Country event under cycling. Rana won the 19km race in one hour and nine minutes and 38 seconds to win the event ahead of Tribhuvan Army Club's Himal Tamatta (1:11.43) and APF's Laxman Malla (1:13.25). In women's section, the 13th South Asian Games gold medallist, Laxmi Magar of Bagmati finished first in 1:09.48, while TAC's Usha Khanal bagged silver in 1:12.39 and APF's Humi Budhamagar finished third in 1:20.04. The women's race was held over 15 kilometres.
Hockey
Province-I and Tribhuvan Army Club advanced to the semi-finals of the women's hockey. Province-I defeated Lumbini Province 1-0 riding on solitary goal from Purnima Rai. In another match, Trihuvan Army Club outplayed Sudurpashchim Province 3-0. Gandaki Province have already made it to the last four.
Shooting
Bagmati shooter Hari Bahadur Thapa scored 590.7 points in men's individual 10m Air Rifle event.
Shankar Dahal of Sudurpashchim earned 580.5 points, while Tanka Prasad Jaisi accumulated 568.5 points. In women's section, Radha Gurung of TAC scored 605.4 points, while Asmita Rai of Nepal Police Club earned 594.1 points and Ayushma KC of Bagmati scored 584.3 points. In men's individual 10m Air Pistol, Gandaki's Bijay Karki scored 556 points, while Bagmati's Bipesh Khadka earned 552 and TAC shooter Bishnu Diswa Magar got 538 points. In women's section, Gandaki's Shreya KC earned 532 points, while Radhika Gharti scored 531 and NPC's Durga Sinjali got 524 points.
Sepak-Takraw
TAC teams won gold medals in Sepak Takraw events. Tribhuvan Army Club team of Anil Jargha Magar, Roshan Tamang and Dipesh Jung Thapa defeated Province-I in straight sets of 2-0 in the men's doubles event in Kawasoti, Nawalparasi. Bagmati Province won bronze medal. In women's doubles, TAC team of Chanda Chaudhary, Sumina Dangol and Sommaya Thapa beat Bagmati Province 2-0 in women's doubles final.
Gandaki Province bagged bronze.
Tennis
Gandaki Province and Tribhuvan Army Club won gold medals in team events of tennis. Gandaki defeated TAC 2-1 in men's team event final. Aki Juen Rawat defeated Anil Shahi 6-3, 6-3 in men's singles to put TAC ahead before Pradeep Khadka beat Pranav Khanal 6-3, 7-5 to level the scores at 1-1. In the deciding men's doubles match, Gandaki duo Khadka and Shahi came from a set down to beat Rawat and Khanal 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 to seal the victory. Nepal Police Club and APF won bronze medals.
In women's section, TAC beat fellow departmental team Nepal APF Club 2-0. TAC's Abhilasha Bista defeated APF's Sarvani Shrestha 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, while Ira M Rawat beat APF's Sunira Thapa 6-1, 1-6, 7-5 to complete easy victory. Bagmati Province and Nepal Police Club finished joint third.
Cricket
Nepal APF Club and Bagmati Province advanced to the semi-finals of women's cricket. APF finished as Group A toppers with eight points, while Bagmati came second with six points. Nepal Police Club and Lumbini have already made it to the final from Group B.
APF defeated Sudurpashchim Province by five wickets. Batting first, Sudurpashchim posted 92-3 in their allotted 20 overs before APF reached the target losing five wickets in 16 overs. Ritu Kanoujiya top scored for Sudurpashchim with 35 runs, while Ruby Podar contributed 23 and Sneha Mahara scored 18. Nary Thapa, Indu Barma and Sushma Shrestha grabbed one wicket each for APF.
In reply, player of the match Indu Barma struck five fours in her 43-ball 45 to guide APF to easy victory. Manisha Chaudhary, Anu Kadayat, Dolly Bhatta and Sneha Mahara took one wicket each for Sudurpashchim.
In another match, Bagmati Province beat Madhesh Province by eight wickets.
Batting first, Madhesh were bowled out for 54 runs in 18.2 overs before Bagmati raced to victory losing two wickets in 132 overs. None of the Madhesh batters could score in double figures with Shanti Chaudhary's eight runs being the highest score. Player of the match Bipisa Shahi, Sony Pakhrin and Khusi Dangol bagged two wickets each for Bagmati.
In reply, Suman Khatiwada top scored for Bagmati with 17 runs, while Anisha Majhkoti contributed 16 and Asmita Kharel scored 13. Saraswoti Kumari and Kabita Gautam took one wicket each for Madhesh.
Basketball
Sudurpashchim Province recorded victory in women's basketball in Tanahun.
Sudurpashchim defeated Madhesh Province 45-21 at the Nirmal School courts in Damauli. Sudurpashchim took a 12-3 lead in the first quarter and took the second period 11-7. Both teams scored six points each in the third quarter, while Sudurpashchim won the final period 16-5.
Weightlifting
Tularam Mahato of Tribhuvan Army Club set new national records in weightlifting.
Competing in men's 55kg weight category, Mahato lifted 102kg in clean and jerk and 87kg in snatch for a total of 181kg. He set new marks in clean and jerk and total. Hiramoti Tharu of Nepal Police Club won women's 45kg section golf with a total list of 115kg that included 50kg in snatch and 65kg in clean and jerk. Lila Rai of APF and Ambika Kumari Yadav of Province-I came second and third respectively.
Volleyball
Tribhuvan Army Club, Nepal APF Club and Lumbini Province recorded victories in men's volleyball. TAC outplayed Madhesh Province 3-0 to top Group B and make it to the quarter-finals.
TAC will play against Group D runners-up Bagmati Province. APF defeated Sudurpashchim Province in straight sets to advance to the last eight as Group C winners. Also, Lumbini outplayed Karnali in straight sets to make it to the quarter-finals, where they will meet APF.
Badminton
Tribhuvan Army Club shuttlers won team event gold medals in badminton.
TAC defeated APF in men's and women's team event finals. Nepal Police Club and NRNA finished joint third in men's section, while Sudurpashchim and Province-I won bronze medals in women's category.
Bodybuilding
Gandaki Province and Tribhuvan Army Club won two gold medals each on the opening day of bodybuilding, while Nepal Police Club bagged one.
Bibek Hamal and Ashmin Gurung won 55kg and 65kg section gold medals for Gandaki, while Prajwol Man Shakya and Naresh Malakar claimed gold medals for TAC. David Balami won gold for NPC.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 17, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
