The women's team beats Bangladesh to strengthen semi-final hopes
KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 2
Nepal defeated Bangladesh 37-24 in the Group B match of the women's kabaddi tournament under the 19th Asian Games and strengthened their chances of making it to the semi-finals.
Nepal - who are participating in women's kabaddi for the first time in the regional sporting extravaganza - are currently at the top of the threeteam group and they will face defending champions Iran on Tuesday. Nepal are not even dreaming of beating Iran, instead they are pinning hopes on the defending champions to beat Bangladesh on Wednesday, which will seal a place for them in the last four and at least a a bronze medal in the Asian Games in their debut participation.
If Iran beat Bangladesh on Wednesday, the women's kabaddi team will become the only second team to win a medal in the Asiad. Paragliding saved Nepal's blushes in the previous edition of the Games in Indonesia when the men's team claimed the maiden silver medal five years ago.
India, Thailand, South Korea and Chinese Taipei are in Group B. Top two teams from both groups will enter the semi-finals and all four teams are assured of medals.
At a time when the Nepali athletes and teams have crashed out of the first rounds, heats and quarter-finals in the ongoing edition of the Games, the women's kabaddi players under the captaincy of Menu-ka Kumari Rajbanshi gave a sigh of relief with a convincing victory over Bangladesh in their Asiad debut match. Nepal took a 21-16 lead in the first half and added 16 more points in the second half, while Bangladesh managed just eight.
Menuka Kumari Rajbanshi, Manmati Bist, Nitu Gurung, Jayanti Badu, Usha Rai, Arpana Chaudhary, Srijana Kumari Tharu, Sunita Thapa, Rabina Chaudhary, Kalawati Pant, Anuja Kulung Rai and Ganga Ghimire are the other players in the team, while Parbati Rai and Bishnu Datt Bhatt are coaches. Nepal, the silver medal winners of the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu, had defeated Bangladesh 36-25 on their way to the final.
Nepal's cricket team have made wonders in the Asian Games with a number of world records including the fastest half century, fastest century and highest total in T20Is on their way to the quarter-finals as group winners.
They play against India for a place in the semi-finals on Tuesday. Athlete Deepak Adhikari broke the national record in men's 10,000m race, while Bipana Bhlon became the first Nepali squash player to win a match in the Asiad.
In weightlifting, Sarada Chaudhary lifted a total of 158kg including 70kg in snatch and 88kg in clean and jerk in the women's 64kg weight category.
She crashed out of Group B after finishing fifth.
In women's volleyball, Nepal faced a 3-0 defeat at the handsof South Korean for their second straight loss in Group C.
Unlike the first match against Vietnam, the Nepali players put up an improved performance and won 21, 14 and 11 points in three sets. Nepal, who took part in the women's volleyball for the first time in Asiad, crashed out from the group stage and they will now play a classification match.
In athletics, Som Bahadur Kumal came fourth in the seven-man competition in 800m but that was not enough for him to qualify for the finals. In Heat3, Kumal completed the race in one minute and 50.38 seconds and he finished 11th overall among 21 athletes. Kumal also competed in the men's 400m race.
In badminton, two Nepali teams advanced to the Round of 16 with straight-set wins.
Bishnu Katuwal and Nangsal Tamang defeated Mongolia's Zolzaya Munkhbaatar and Kherlen Darkhanbaatar 21-16, 21-17 in the mixed doubles Round of 32 match at the BJ Gymnasium courts. Jivan Acharya and Bishnu Katuwal outplayed Maldives duo Nibal Ahmed and Mohamed Ajfan Rasheed 21-17, 21-18 in the men's doubles.
Jivan Acharya and Nita Lamsal faced 2-0 defeat against Singapore in another mixed doubles match, while Prince Dahal and Sunil Chaudhary lost 2-0 to Thailand opponents in men's doubles.
Likewise, former junior world No 1 Dahal and Sunil Joshi lost their men's singles matches in straight sets.
In triathlon, Nepal came 11th out of 12 nations in the mixed relay event. The team of Moulik Maharjan, Uska Maharjan, Basanta Tharu and Shre-bi Maharjan finished ahead of Mongolia.
In archery, Tilak Pun Magar was the lone Nepali player to win a match. Pun Magar defeated Zaw Thiha Htet of Myanmar 7-1 in the Round of 32 elimination match of men's Individual Recurve event. But he later faced a 6-0 defeat against South Korean opponent in the Round of 16 elimination clash. In the women's section, Manju Bajagain suffered a 6-0 loss at the hands of Bangladesh's Diya Siddiqu.
Likewise, Yogendra Sherchan lost to Iraq's Eshaq Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Daghman 140-135 in the Round of 32 elimination match of Compound Individual event, whereas Imayung Rai suffered a 149-137 defeat against India's Aditi Gopichand Swami in women's event. All four Nepali archers made it to the elimination round from the qualifying on Sunday.
In squash, Bipana Bhlon lost 3-0 against Japan's Akari Midorikawa in the women's singles Round of 16 match. Bhlon suffered a 11-3, 11-1, 11-5 defeat in her second match. She had defeated Thailand's Waritsara Chujit 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 on Sunday to become the first Nepali squash player to record a win in the Asian Games. The mixed doubles team of Amir Bhlon and Swasthani Shrestha faced defeats against Malaysia and Thailand.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 3, 2023, of The Himalayan Times
