The 19-year-old Nepali karateka beats opponents from Japan and Hong Kong in the first two bouts
KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 7
Arika Gurung won silver medal in the women's above-68kg weight category in the 19th Asian Games at the Linping Sports Centre in Hangzhou today.
The 19-year-old Gurung from Dhading district became the only second Nepali player to win silver in the Asiad and the medal came after a gap of 25 years.
Sabita Rajbhandari had bagged maiden silver medal in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
Men's paragliding team claimed silver in the 18th edition of the Games in Indonesia becoming the first Nepali team to finish second in the regional sporting extravaganza.
A day after Biplav Lal Shrestha missed a bronze medal, Gurung won the silver after she faced a 3-0 loss at the hands of Kazakhstan's Sofya Berultseva in the final bout. Earlier, she defeated Japan's Yuzuki Sawae for scoring a point on senshu after they were tied on one point in the quarter-final bout. Gurung had opened the scoring with a point on senshu, while Sawae levelled the scores through yuki.
Gurung then made it to the final with a thumping 8-4 victory over Hong Kong's Kai Yan Ho in the semi-final bout. She could not score a point in the final against Berultseva in the final as she faced a 3-0 defeat that restricted Gurung to a silver medal.
"I am extremely happy as I could bring joy to the face of 30 million people back home," said Gurung with the medal around her neck.
"This is the victory for karate, our team and the whole country, and I am grateful to all the stakeholders who supported me and the sport," she added.
Gurung won a gold medal in her first international tournament - Shito-Ryu World Championship from September 22-24 in Indonesia. "Asian Games is my second international tournament and I was able to get a huge achievement, which I reckon is the biggest one in my life. I did not lose in the final bout today, instead I have gained a lesson.
This is just the beginning and I have a long way to go. I have to improve a lot and need to be the best to achieve more in future," added Gurung, who started playing karate seven years ago from Manamaiju dojo and won a gold medal in the ninth National Games.
Coach Kushal Shrestha was super excited with Gurung's success in the Asian Games. "It's a nice feeling and I am very happy for her. I am grateful to Arika Gurung and the whole team as all the members are like a unit here.
I am happy that all the team members are celebrating the success of one player. I am satisfied that we have been able to build a team," he said. "We are already preparing for the World Championship to be held in Budapest and I am sure Arika can become a world champion if she gets proper support," he added.
With the fourth medal overall in karate, Gurung took Nepal's medal tally in the Asian Games to 26 - three silver and 23 bronze.
Earlier, karatekas Sita Rai (1994 Hiroshima), Samar Bahadur Gole (1998 Bangkok) and Bimala Tamang (2014 Incheon) won bronze medals in the Asian Games for Nepal.
On Saturday, Kabaddi became the second team game and fifth overall to win a medal for Nepal in the Asiad.
Nepal first took part in the Asian Games in 1951 and won first medal in 1986 Asiad in Seoul.
In another bout, Santosh Shrestha faced a 3-2 defeat against Thailand's Chaiwat Phiandee in the men's below-67kg weight category.
In women's volleyball, Nepal defeated Mongolia 3-2 for consolation victory. Nepal came from a set down to beat Mongolia 17-25, 25-18, 25-21, 18-25, 15-12 in the last match of the classification round and they finished 11th among 13 teams. After losing two matches in the group stage, Nepal and four other teams played for rankings. Nepali women's volleyball team participated in the Asian Games for the first time.
In canoe slalom, Nepal's Ganesh Gurung finished eighth in the finals of the men's kayak competition at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre. Out of the total 10 players who qualified for the finals, Gurung finished the event in 146.44 seconds to finish ahead of South Korea and Hong Kong.
China (89.24), Japan (92.15) and Chinese Taipei (97.12) claimed the top three positions respectively.
In wrestling, two Nepali players lost in the quarter-finals. Raj Yadav faced a 10-0 defeat against Cambodia's Bali Sou in the men's freestyle 125kg weight category, while Suresh Chunara suffered a 11-0 loss to Turkmenistan's Perman Hommadov in the men's freestyle 74kg section.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 8, 2023, of The Himalayan Times
