SAVAR: Judoka Debu Thapa braved the horrific elevator accident to strike bronze medal in the women's 63kg Judo tournament here at the 11th South Asian Games today.

Debu was one of the nine Nepali players who was injured when elevator crashed in the Imperial Hotel. Debu was one of the three judokas who had to be admitted to the hospital after the crash. She remained two days in the hospital and announced she would compete despite carrying the injury and pain.

Nobody had given her any chance after what she had undergone. But she proved everybody wrong when he limped into the ring and walked out with heads high. Her bronze medal bout with Leena Aaini of Afghanistan was such that even Brojeshori Devu of India, who beat Debu in the first match, turned up to cheer the Nepali judoka. Everybody watching the game was cheering for her. Debu was playing with pain in her thigh and back wearing slacks tape.

Brojeshori won the gold but the Indian have never beaten Debu while the Nepali judoka trained in Bhopal for three weeks as part of her preparation for the Games. As soon as Devu completed the match she collapsed to the ground with tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes. She was crying more with joy than with the immense pain she had been undergoing after playing the strenuous match.

Everyone watching the bout was left emotionally attached with the player as she needed a medical attention to make her move. Debu dedicated her victory to her husband. "When I entered the arena I was not even moving properly and I remembered my husband," said Debu. "I fulfilled my promise that I made while I was in the hospital."

Devu was upset because she could not compete for the gold but she was satisfied with the result after the lift crash injured her. 'I had promised with the nation from the hospital's bed that I will not return with empty hand. I kept that promise', said Devu.

Meanwhile, two other judokas Radha Devi Rai and Rajan Joshi also won bronze today. Radha Devi beat Atefa of Afghanistan in the bronze battle of the below 52kg category while Radha Devi won when her opponent was disqualified after she bit the Nepali judoka's hand during the match. Radha earlier lost to Chamila Dilhani of Sri Lanka.

Rajan won the bronze medal bout against Afgun of Afghanistan in the men's Above 100kg category. In men's 60kg, Parshuram Chaudhary lost both his matches.

Basketball

Dhaka: Nepal defeated Bangladesh 74-72 in the men's basketball tournament in the 11th SA Games herd on Monday. Nepal, who lost the first match in a comical fashion, staged a brilliant comeback to deny the hosts the victory. Nepal managed 13 and 16 while giving away 18 and 16 points in the first two quarters. They scored 19 and 26 in the final two quarters and restricted the hosts for 17 and 17 points to win the match by two points.

Cycling

DHAKA: Cyclist Nirjala Tamrakar was nicely placed to strike silver medal in the Women's Mass Road Race but instead finished eight seconds off the bronze-place finish here today.

Tamrakar finished the 50km race in the 1 hour, 28 minutes and 43 seconds, just eight seconds behind bronze medal winner Rameshwori Devi of India. Mahitha Mohan of India clinched gold in 1:25:42 and Lasanthi Krishna Horathal of Sri Lanka the silver in 1:28:35. The race began from Khulna to Gopalgunj Road and way back to the starting point.

Tamrakar was almost certain for a podium finish but missed out on the medal due to the mistake of an Afghani cyclist. "While making a turn half way of the race, the Afghani cyclist made an unnecessary move and collided with Tamrakar," informed Sanjeev Kumar Pandey, who is also the General Secretary of the Nepal Cycling Association (NCA). The accident pushed the Nepali cyclist back from the pack, and despite her push Tamrakar could only finish fourth in the 20-member field.

"We came so close to winning a medal but unfortunately we missed out not due to our player's fault or incompetence but by the other's mistake," rued the NCA President Chhimi Urken Gurung, who is also the deputy Chef-de-Mission of Nepal.

On Sunday, the men's team of Ajay Pandit, Narayan Gopal, Mangal Krishna Lama and Raj Kumar Shrestha finished last in the five-team Road Team Time Trial cycling championships.

Nepal will compete in the last event in the 170km Mass Road Race on Tuesday. Ajay Pandit Chhetri, mangal Krishna Lama, Raj Kumar Shrestha and Narayan Gopal Maharjan will represent Nepal in the race. The same four cyclist finished last in the 80km Time Trial Road Race on Sunday.

Handball

DHAKA: Nepal lost to hosts Bangladesh 40-18 in the first handball match here at the 11th South Asian Games on Monday. Birendra Chand and Bishal Basnet top scored with four goals each for the Nepali team who is participating in an international tournament after a decade. Nepal last played in the 2000 SAF Championship here in Dhaka. Among the other Nepali scorers were Fuldev Chaudhary (three), Rajendra Hamal (three), Padam Bahadur Nepali (two), Bishal Nepali (one) and Bipin Bista (one).

Mirza Siaduzzaman struck eight goals for the hosts while Md Kamrul and Md Mahabubul Alom Chowdhury added five goals apiece. Likewise, Md Asadul Islam, Md Waliour Rahaman Md Imdadul Haq and Md Kamel Hossain scored four goals each. Also in the target for Bangladesh were Md Sharif Titumir (three), Md Jahangir Alam (two) and Md Jamal Hossain (one).

Irrespective of the day's result, Nepal can still qualify for the semi-finals if they beat Afghanistan on Tuesday and Bangladesh beat the same opponent in the Group B on Tuesday. "We have a great chance of making it to the semis-finals," said coach Prakash Singh Thakuri. "I am very pleased with my player's performance today. This game has given me the confidence to win tomorrow," added the coach.

Volleyball

DHAKA: Nepal lost their second straight match against Maldives on Monday. The spikers went down in straight sets 20-25, 15-25, 23-25 in the Group B match. Nepal, who lost their opener against Pakistan, will play Bangladesh on Tuesday.