Lalitpur, September 3

A total of 37 karatekas were picked up for the South Asian Karate Championship slated for September 22-26 in India.

The players were selected through a tournament held here at the International Sports Complex today.

A selection committee led by National Sports Council Member Phatta Bahadur Gurung organised the event to pick the players in various categories.

The 17th Asian Games bronze medallist Bimala Tamang was selected in the women’s singles kata. She was also picked up for the women’s team kata along with Kripa Gurung and Sunibha Shrestha.

Sharsha Sadhu (45kg weight category), Rupa Maharjan (61kg), Asta Rai (55kg) and Alina BK (50kg) made the cut in the senior women’s category.

Similarly, Manish Thapa (50kg), Raj Kumar Rashaili (60kg), Nabin Rashaili (67kg), Chand Budha (75kg), Roshan Dhami (68kg) and Abinash Chaudhary (84kg) won their final matches to get selected for the South Asian event.

Lalit Khatri made it in the men’s singles kata, while Chand Budha, Nirmal Pun and Suman Paija will compete in the team kata events.

A total of 207 karatekas competed in the selection tournament.

Players from national team and departmental teams did not take part in the selection organised by internationally-recognised Nepal Karate Federation.