Kathmandu, April 7:

Chandra Mahato of Nepal Army set a new national record on his way to win the men’s 50m butterfly gold today but it was Karishma Karki who stole the limelight in swimming with four golds in the fifth National Games. Armyman Mahato set the national record during heats at 28.43sec but won the gold in 29.09sec. Mahato bettered his own previous record of 28.53.

Karishma won gold medals in women’s 200m breaststroke (3min, 23.10sec), 100m butterfly (1min, 26.80sec), 100m freestyle (1min, 12.81sec) and 50m backstroke (38.45sec). Other swimming gold medal winners today were Kisim Lal Tharu of Nepali Army (men’s 100m breaststroke), Puspa Raj Shahi (men’s 50m backstroke) and Sailesh Rana (men’s 200m freestyle.

Bodybuilding

Central Development Region won all seven bodybuilding gold medals. Bodybuilders winning the honours today were Dayaram Dewakar (55kg), Gyan Narayan Maharjan (60kg), Shyam Shrestha (65kg), Bimal Shrestha (70kg), Susan Maharjan (75kg), Kiran Shrestha (80kg) and Sunanda Raj Shakya (above-80kg).

Weightlifting

Devi Chaudhary of Nepal Police won the weightlifting gold in women’s 53kg with a new national record here at the fifth National Games today. She set a new national record with a total lift of 132kg as well as in clean & jerk (75kg). She broke Niti Shrestha’s record of 72.5kg (clean & jerk) and 130kg (total). Shanti Chaudhary of Central Region and Belti Chaudhary of Far-western Region claimed silver and bronze medals respectively.

Nita Thapa of Nepal Police clinched the women’s 48kg gold with a lift of 110kg (clean & jerk 60kg and snatch 50kg). Asha Chaudhary of Far-western Region and Kabita Chaudhary of Eastern Region won silver and bronze medals respectively.

In men’s 56kg, Hem Shanker Chaudhary of Eastern Region won gold, Punu Tandukar of Central Region claimed silver and Shiva Narayan Chaudhary of Far-Western Region earned bronze medal. Winners in the men’s 62kg were Bikash Thapa (gold) and Laxman Ranjit (silver) of Nepal Police, and Raju Rana (bronze) of Nepali Army.

Athletics

Athlete Surya Maya Rai of Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) became the first gold medal winner of the fifth National Games today. Surya Maya claimed the 1,500m gold with the timing of 4min, 46.01sec. Chhaya Khatri of Nepal Police won silver and Bishwo Rupa Budha of Mid-Western Region claimed bronze medal in the event. Hari Rimal of Nepali Army claimed the men’s 1,500m gold in 4min, 2.23sec ahead of fellow clubmate Robin Bhatta and Aas Narayan Chaudhary of APF.

ITF Taekwondo

A total of 14 gold medals were decided on the first day of the ITF Taekwondo Tournament at the Tundikhel grounds. In men’s section, Sri Krishna Bhatta of Far-western (yellow belt pattern), Arjun Tamang of Eastern Region of Far-western (green belt pattern), Sanjay Thapa Darlami of Western (blue belt pattern), Amir Maharjan of Central (red belt pattern), Jhalak Budha Magar of Western (black belt pattern) and Pappu Kewat of Mid-western (second DAN belt pattern) won gold medals.

Likewise in women’s section, Yog Maya BK of Mid-western (yellow belt pattern), Sita Rai of Mid-western (green belt pattern), Manata Thapa of Western (blue belt pattern), Arju Karki of Western (red belt pattern) and Tulasa Rajthala of Central (black belt pattern) won gold medals. Also, Tulasa Thapa Magar of Central (40-45kg) and Srijana Rai of Central (46-50kg) in women’s and Prakash Gharti Magar of Mid-western (76-80) in men’s section won the sparring section gold medals.

Cricket

Region No 1 (Biratnagar) defeated Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) by 70 runs while Region No 2 (Birgunj) beat Region No 6 (Baitadi) by 133 runs in the Springwood Senior National Cricket Tournament. Biratnagar were all out for 162 in 42.2 overs before restricting Nepalgunj to 92 runs in 32.5 overs. Kundan Singh of Biratnagar, who took three wickets and scored 27 runs, won the man of the match award.

In another match, Birgunj made a massive 254 runs in 47.3 overs and dismissed Baitadi for 121 runs. Birgunj skipper Binod Das was declared the man of the match for his 23-run contribution and three wickets.

Nepalgunj defeated Bhairahawa by six wickets and Baitadi eased to a 70-run win over Birgunj in the Women’s Twenty20 National Cricket League. Bhairahawa made 83-6 and Nepalgunj overcame the target losing four wickets in 17.1 overs. In another match, Baitadi scored 133-5 before restricting Birgunj to 63 runs in 18.5 overs.

Golf

Tashi Ghale and Rupak Acharya carded four-over 76 each to share lead after the first day of the golf tournament here at the Gokarna Golf Club today. Tham Bahadur Rai is third with six-over 78, while Wangchen Dhondup, Prakash Neupane and Dhana Thapa are joint fourth at 79. In women’s section, Kesang Lama is leading the pack with the scores of 11-over 83. Shastika Shrestha is second at 105. Juna Rai (120) and Bina K Thapa (125) are third and fourth.

In men’s team event, Eastern Region is on top with 158, one stroke ahead

of Central Region. Western Region (162) are third followed by Army

Club (170). In women’s team event, Central Region is on top with the scores of 188, followed by Western Region (257) and Eastern Region (270).

Tennis

Boudha Tennis Club won the men’s team event gold medal. Chhitiz Gurung advanced to the women’s singles final with straight sets win over Nilima Malla. In men’s singles, Suresh Bahadur Gurung made to the semi-finals.

Full Contact Karate

Far-Western Region earned double gold medals in the full contact karate championship. Dipesh Thapa claimed gold in men’s below-55kg bating Bhim Bahadur Saru Magar of Western Region while Mina Shah won in the women’s below-55kg section.

Judo

Central Region won four out of five gold medals decided in judo today. Ramesh Magar (66kg) and Karan Bahadur Bam (81kg) clinched the men’s gold while Anita Bade (40kg) and Ranju Rai (57kg) won the women’s gold medals for Central Region. Tej Bahadur Budhathkoi of Mid-Western Region bagged the other gold medal winning the men’s 45kg category.

Handball

Mid-Western Region edged past Nepal Police 14-13 in the inaugural handball tournament match today. In other matches, Central Region defeated Western Region 19-17 and Eastern Region saw off APF 13-12.

Football

Nepal Police crushed Far-Western Region 8-0 in men’s football while PLA earned the walkover win over Nepali Army after the latter opted out of the tournament. In women’s section, APF defeated PLA 3-0 and Far-Western Region beat Western Region 3-0.

Gyamnastics

Mid-Western Region won the women s team event gold.