KATHMANDU: National athletics sensation Keshari Chaudhary has once again found her in the record books when she set a new national record of 1.56m in the women’s high jump on the first day of the final selection tournament for the 11th South Asian Games.

At the Dasharath Stadium, the Nepal Police Club athlete Keshari broke her own previous mark of 1.50m set during the fifth National Games in April. She had jumped 1.55m during the Gorkha Runners Club Athletics Tournament but her feat was not recognised by the Nepal Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA). She also holds the national record of 11.30m in the women’s triple jump. Sita Hajam of PLA came second with 1.40m and Barsha Bhattarai (1.25m) of Mid-western Region came third.

In men’s high jump, Bal Krishna Chaudhary of Nepal APF Club jumped 1.95m to win gold medal ahead of Surya Khatri of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) who also jumped 1.95m. Since both the athletes failed to break the deadlock in the next attempt, the judicial committee handed Chaudhary the gold medal.

Dhruba Narayan of Nepal Police Club (NPC) leaped 13.80m to win the men’s triple jump ahead of Dilli Khatri of TAC 13.65m.

In 110m hurdles, Dhirendra Chaudhary of NPC claimed gold with the timing of 15.57 seconds while Santosh Shrestha ended up second in 16.17s.

Youngster Tilak Ram Tharu of Nawalparasi won the men’s 200m final in 22.63s, ahead of Bali Ram Chaudhary of TAC who completed the race in 22.70s. Armymen dominated the men’s 1500m after Hari Kumar Rimal timed 4:3.76s to finish first ahead of fellow clubmate Letar Singh Khatri (4:6.74s).

In women’s 200m, Pramila Rijal of Armed Police Force (APF) timed 26.41 seconds to finish first leaving Sabitri Nepali of NPC (26.62s) behind. APF once again scripted their name in another event after Arati Pathak won the women’s 110m hurdles in 18.52 secs ahead of Sunita Thapa (18.90s) from her own department. NAAA will select 22 athletes out of 33 who are taking part in the final selection. The remaining events of the two-day tournament are on Tuesday.

Taekwondo selection put off

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Taekwondo Association (NTA) postponed the selection tournament for Tuesday. The organisers were all set for the tournament on Monday morning with the mats laid on the floor along with the officials prepared with their outfits and the taekwondo players in lineup with their gee. But, the NTA General Secretary Deep Raj Gurung was not satisfied with the messy environment and called the NTA executive committee meeting, which later postponed the selection tournament for Tuesday. “When I reached there, it was a total mess. It was the association’s weakness and we cannot conduct the tournament in such conditions,” said Gurung.

“As we monitored the set up for the selection tournament, we found many technical faults in the preparation. So, we decided to postpone it,” said Gurung. “We are committed towards the players’ rights and I assure a free and fair selection in a good environment on Tuesday,” he added.

Ace taekwondo player Deepak Bista, who is also the member of the NTA, backed the association’s decision. “I liked our General Secretary’s views. Not only players, each and everyone should follow the disciplines. When you are not 100 per cent in organising the tournament, you cannot blame a player,” he said. “We will be going to Dhaka with an aim to win medals for the country. The association should give 100 per cent if they want results from the players,” he added. — HNS