JIRI: Krishna Basnet of Ramechhap and Chyanlamu Sherpa of Dolkha won the open road race titles at the Hemanta Memorial Cup Sports Festival here on Tuesday.

Krishna won the 6km race in 20 minutes and 12 seconds beating 22 players. Prem Lamichhane of Barda Bahadur Batallion came second in 21:20, while Keshav Karki finished third in 22:25.

Chyanlamu bagged the 2km race title with the timing of eight minutes and eight seconds, just three seconds ahead of second-placed Bina Jirel of Jiri. Susmita Khadka, also from Jiri, came third in 8:13. A total of 17 athletes had taken part in the event. The top three players of both the races won Rs 2,000, Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 respectively.

In the men’s volleyball tournament, Dhunge Youth Club, Shyama VDC and Ramechhap Youth Group registered wins in the first day matches.

Dhunge defeated Hatdada Boys Club 25-16, 27-25; Shyama beat Jiri Social Work Consumer’s Committee 25-16, 30-38; and Ramechhap Group outplayed Shivalaya Youth Club 25-20, 25-5. A total of eight teams are taking part in the league-cum-knock out tournament. The top four clubs will win Rs 30,000, Rs 20,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively.

Earlier, Chief District Officer Shree Krishna Shrestha inaugurated the festival organised by Jiri Sports Association in memory of former president Hemanta Kumar Pradhan.