Usha claims gold

KATHMANDU: Usha Magar of Main Dojo won gold medal in the girls’ 20kg section during the second Valleywide Shito-Ryu Karate and Kickboxing Tournament on Friday. Usha beat Sita Bhujel of Budhanilkantha Dojo in final. Sapana Lama beat Muna Rana in final to claim the girls’ 25kg gold medal. Likewise, Kushum Khadka defeated Rojina Bista to clinch girls’ 30kg event gold while Saru Pariyar overcame Bunu Basnet to earn gold in girls’ 35kg event. In the boys’ 20kg final, Kiran Gurung edged past Ramesh Thapa to win the gold. — HNS

Players selected

KATHMANDU: Nine players — five in men’s and four in women’s section — have been selected from Eastern Region for the upcoming second Manmohan Memorial National Taekwondo (ITF) Tournament on Friday. Suresh Dhimal, Harsha Narayan Dhimal, Yogendra Dhimal, Dorna Bahadur Magar and Jagat Narayan Chaudhary have secured their places in the men’s section for the national tournament slated for September 15-16 in Tansen, said the Nepal International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). Among the players selected for the women’s section were Ambika Banjara, Anjila Rai, Sushmita Shrestha and Sita Rai. — HNS

Course concludes

KATHMANDU: All 33 participants passed the Sports Teachers’ Course, organised by Nepal Sports Academy, here on Friday. Twelve passed in first Division while 16 passed in second and five others in third Division. Manin Kumar Maharjan was the best among the lot earning 82.2 per cent marks. Topics for the course included training methods, sports medicines and biomechanics. — HNS

Gojukai karate

KATHMANDU: Janam Gurung and Mahesh Thapa of hosts Valley Public School and Keshav Pradhan of Mandikhatar advanced to the men’s 50kg semi-finals during the 14th Valley Public Gojukai Karate Tournament on Friday. Entering the semi-finals in the boys’ 20kg were Saurav Poudel of Annal Jyoti and Sujan Shrestha of Main Dojo. Making it to the last four in the girls’ 20kg were Mina Tamang of Valley Public, Muskan KC of Mahendra Bhawan and Shristi Panta of Newton. In all, 257 players from 20 schools and Dojos are participating in the tournament. — HNS

Basketball tourney

KATHMANDU: Solukhumbu, Kailali and Nawalparasi won their respective matches in the first Nationwide Inter-Liaison Forum Basketball Tournament, organised by Jhapa-Kathmandu Inter-Liaison Forum, on Friday. Manoj Sherchan netted 25 points to steer Solukhumbu to an easy 55-40 win over Banke while Kailali beat Gorkha 42-35 riding on 27 points from Gajendra Karki. Bikram Joshi scored 18 points as Nawalparasi saw off Nuwakot 58-39. — HNS