Kathmandu, December 9
Nepali para-taekwondo player Shrijana Ghising defeated top three players in the world ranking and won gold medal in the World Para-Taekwondo Grand Prix Final in Riyadh today.
Participating in the below-52kg weight category under K-44 section, Ghising outplayed World No 1 Meryem Betul Cavdar of Turkey 12-0 in the final bout. Ghising claimed maiden gold medal for Nepal in World Para-Taekwondo Grand Prix, which falls under G10 category.
Ghising defeated World No 2 Jessica Quijano of Mexico 8-7 in the first round match to make it to the semi-finals. She then edged past Brazil's World No 3 player Cristhiane Nascimento 15-13 to set up the final encounter with Cavdar.
Ghising did not give any chance to Cavdar throughout the bout and recorded lopsided 12-0 victory.
Another Nepali player, Paralympian Palesha Goverdhan suffered an 8-2 defeat against Iran's Roza Ebrahimi in the first bout of the below-57kg weight category.
Both Ghising and Goverdhan earned invitations to take part in the Grand Prix, which is a competition for top eight players in the world. Ghising had won silver medals in the Youth Asian Games and WT President's Cup, while Gverdhan won two bouts in Tokyo Para-Olympic Games and agonisingly missed the historic medal.
"Nepal had not taken part in the Grand Prix earlier. But these players got the opportunity to participate in the event after they got invitation from World Taekwondo based on their world ranking and previous performance," said coach Kabiraj Negi Lama. "Shrijana earned 100 points from the event and her world ranking has improved to seventh from 14," he added. "We are grateful to World Para Taekwondo Director Olof Hansson for providing us with the opportunity to participate in the event," said Lama.
