KATHMANDU, JUNE 25
Nepali judoka Soniya Bhatta has earned wild card for next month's Tokyo Olympic Games, informed Nepal Judo Association on Thursday.
The NJA had recommended Indra Bahadur Shrestha and Bhatta for the wild card. The Nepal Police Club judoka, Bhatta had bagged bronze medal in the 13th South Asian Games held on home soil in 2019 and she had won gold medal in the Judo Championship in Bangladesh the same year.
"She had earned 200 points for winning a bout in the World Junior Championship in Morocco in 2019 and her performance in other tournaments helped her get the wild card for Tokyo Olympic Games," said NJA President Deepak Harsha Bajracharya.
Bhatta is the fourth Nepali judoka to get tickets to Olympic Games after Rishiram Pradhan and Ganga Bahadur Dangol (Seoul 1988), Devu Thapa (Beijing 2008) and Phupu Lhamu Khatri (Rio 2016).
Bhatta became the fifth Nepali player to be confirmed for Tokyo Games.
Swimmers Gaurika Singh and Alex Shah along with athlete Gopi Chandra Parki will be taking part in the Games under universal quota, while shooter Kalpana Pariyar has earned wild card.
Para-taekwondo athlete Palesha Goverdhan has earned wild card for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 26 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
