Colombo, August 25 :

Taekwondo ace Sangina Baidya announced her retirement after she lost her Fly Weight bout in the semi-finals of the 10th South Asian Games here today.

“I wanted to leave on winning notes, but I failed as my body did not support me,” said Sangina, who put full stop in her 15-year-long career.“I wanted to win a gold medal for my country and a hat-trick for me, but I could not do so. I am very sorry to all the people and sports lovers back home,” said emotional Sangina.

Sangina, who won gold medals at the eighth SAF Games in Kathmandu in 1999 and ninth edition in Islamabad in 2004, was among the three players who were eying hat-trick in the regional games. Karateka Deepak Shrestha and fellow taekwondo player Deepak Bista will vie for the feat on next two days.

Sangina, who is the only Nepali player to qualify for the Olympics, was not at her best in the semis against Afghanistan’s Neela. After a pointless first round, Neela made a breakthrough and went 1-0 up. Sangina fought back and levelled, but lost another point in counter attack. In the third round, she could hardly trouble her opponent and had to content herself with the bronze.

Sangina was not physically fit as she had to undergo operation to remove stone from gull bladder 10 days before leaving for Sri Lanka.

“The loss was bitter than the loss in Athens Olympics,” said Sangina adding that the bout was not worth losing. Regarding Sangina’s performance, Korean coach Kwonhyouk Joung — who was not satisfied with the jury— defended her saying she unable to continue due to pain. The Korean coach even had a brief discussion with the jury panel regarding the scoring pattern.

Meanwhile, Bima Rai — last minute replacement for Yam Kumari Chaulagain who was forced to pull out because of jaundice — went down fighting to Pakistan’s Kiran in the Fin Weight (43-47kg) category.

In the men’s Fly Weight (54-58kg), Amar Raj Lama lost in the first round against Pakistan’s Faheem. The only consolation came later in the evening as Kumar Manandhar won the silver medal in the men’s Fin Weight category to restore some prestige. He lost to Pakistan’s Shahzad Ahmed of Pakistan in the final.