Kathmandu, October 4

The Nepal Weightlifting Association today picked up 20 lifters for the 13th South Asian Games slated for December 1-10 in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Janakpur.

Tara Devi Pun and Kamala Shrestha were selected in the final squad despite the duo could not put expected performance in the final selection tournament that concluded today. Pun has been suffering from typhoid, while Shrestha injured her muscles while lifting weight in final selection tournament.

NWA General Secretary Partha Sarathi Sen Gupta said the Pun and Shrestha were picked up in the national squad with high hopes. “We have decided to put these two lifters in the national squad as we have pinned high hopes on them from the South Asian Games,” said Gupta.

Pun (76kg) and Shrestha (59kg) were joined in the women’s squad by Karina Chaudhary (45kg), Sangita Rai (49kg), Sanju Chaudhary (55kg), Devi Chaudhary (64kg), Raj Laxmi Thapa (71kg), Laxmi Ban (81kg), Man Kumari Kumal (87kg) and Ashmita Rai (above-87kg).

In men’s section, Tula Ram Mahato (55kg), Raju Chaudhary (61kg), Prakash KC (67kg), the 10th SA Games gold medal winning lifter Kamal Bahadur Adhikari (73kg), the 12th SA Games silver medallist Bikash Thapa (81kg), Dinesh Karki (89kg), Bishal Singh Bista (96kg), Sandesh Gurung (102kg), Sagar Bhandari (109kg) and Pukar Gurung (above-109kg) made it to the national squad.

The 13th SA Games features 10 each gold medals in men and women’s sections and each country can field a maximum of seven lifters apiece. “We have selected 10 each lifters in the national team and we will pick seven from among them in due course,” said Gupta. “As a host country, we will have an advantage as we can select our players after going though the squads of other nations,” he added.

Gupta said the NWA would give priority to medals while choosing the players. “We have already informed the lifter about this decision and any three players can be axed,” he said.