Gurung, Shrestha seal 13th SA Games berths

Lalitpur, September 17

Tribhuvan Army Club boxers Meenu Gurung and Deepak Shrestha qualified for the 13th South Asian Games slated for December 1-10 in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

The 12th SA Games bronze medallists Gurung and Shrestha won their respective weight categories in the selection tournament at the Nepali Army Sports Complex covered hall today. Gurung defeated Nepal Police Club boxer Nisha Tamang 5-0 in the women’s 54kg final, while Shrestha registered a 5-0 victory over Bhumi Lal Diwas of Province-3 in men’s 75kg weight category final.

Two other TAC boxers Chadrakala Thapa and Poonam Rawal also qualified for the South Asian sporting extravaganza in women’s events.

Thapa defeated Maya Chaudhary of Nepal APF Club 5-0 in the 57kg weight category, while Rawal earned a narrow 3-2 victory over APF’s Binita Thapa Magar in 64kg section final.

Lalita Maharjan (48kg), Mala Rai (51kg) and Sangeeta Sunuwar (60kg) had won their respective weight categories to earn berths yesterday.

In men’s section, the 12th SA Games bronze medallist Shrestha was joined by Manohar Basnet, Bikash Lama, Puran Rai and Sushil Thapa Magar. Five others — Tej Bahadur Deuba (52kg), Sanil Shahi (60kg), Bhupendra Thapa (64), Arjun Sigu (91kg) and Ashish Dawadi (above-90kg) — had confirmed their places yesterday.

On the final day of the selection tournament, TAC boxer Sushil Thapa Magar defeated APF’s Pradeep Maharjan 5-0 in the 49kg weight category, while Puran Rai registered a 3-2 victory over Puran Sunar of TAC in the 56kg section. In 69kg final, APF’s Bikash Lama recorded a 4-1 victory over Manish Dangol of Province-3, while Manohar Basnet of Karnali Province defeated TAC’s Ganesh Pradhan 3-2 in the 81kg final.

The Nepal Boxing Association selected a total of 16 boxers — 10 men and six women — for the SA Games.