DHAKA: Nepal are yet to clinch the first gold medal after taekwono player Kumar Manandhar, wushu player Purushottam Rijal and wrestler Satendra Prasad Yadav all lost in the finals at the 11th South Asian Games today.

Overall the ninth day of the regional games turned out to be fruitful as the day produced three silver and two bronze medals. Yan Kumari Chaulagain won bronze in taekwondo and the Men’s Table Tennis Team clinched the other.

Athletics, archery, boxing, golf, squash and swimming were a total disappointment today. Cricketers got some relief with their first win.

The 10th SA Games silver medallist Kumar lost against a formidable Afghan Mohammod Haidari 8-12 in the Under-63kg final. Kumar was down 1-5 in the first round after receiving a kick on the face. He fell further behind 4-11 in the second before losing the match 8-12. Kumar had sustained an ankle injury during his 13-5 semi-final win over Bhutanese Sonam Darji.

Earlier, in the quarter-finals, Kumar beat Md Shah Alam of Bangladesh 6-3.

“It was a tough match as my opponent was a very good fighter,” said Kumar adding that he was satisfied with his overall performance. “The ankle injury also did not help my cause,” added the player. Haidari also praised his performance. “He was a good competitor,” said the Afghan. Nepal’s Korean coach Kwon Young Dal said that the injury of Kumar was a big setback for Nepal’s gold prospect. “In fact, I was not expecting gold today,” said the coach.

Yan Kumari cruised to

the semi-final with an

overwhelming 7-1 win over Sabina Sundas in the women’s under-46kg category. She quickly gained a 6-0 lead and opted the defensive strategy.

The only other Nepali taekwondo player in fray today, Ashish Maharjan, however, lost his quarter-final match 3-4 in extra time against Rehmat Jan of Pakistan in the men’s under-68kg category.

Dan Bahadur Airee (U-74kg), Ramesh Kumar Shrestha (U-80kg) and Sabina Maharjan (U-49kg) are scheduled to play on Saturday. Olympian, three-time SA Games gold medallist and two-time Asian Games bronze medal winner Deepak Bista (U-87kg), the 10th SA Games gold winner and 15th Asian Games bronze medallist Manita Shahi (U-57kg), the 10th SA Games silver medallist and 15th Asian Games bronze winner Ayesha Shakya (U-53kg) and Badri Nath Basnet (Over-87kg) will round up the Nepali taekwondo campaign on Monday.

Football

DHAKA: Nepali women are close to achieve what the men’s team has not been able to do since the sixth SAF Games in 1993 after setting up championship match against India.

The women’s team is set to compensate the men team’s poor showing over the years by repeating the history when they take on the same opponents in Monday’s final. Nepal had suffered a 5-0 defeat against India in the league round.

Nepal cruised to the final as runners up to India after a thumping 7-0 win over Pakistan on Saturday.

Anu Lama struck a hat-trick (5, 42, 58 minutes) while Jamuna Rai (55, 81) and Pramila Rai (10, 30) added two goals each.

Wushu

SYLHET: Purushottam Rijal was restricted to silver medal after losing the 70kg category bout in wushu here on Saturday.

Purushottam was deprived of the gold due to his own mistake in final round. He lost the championship match two sets to one against Ravinder Balara of India despite wining the first one convincingly. The former karate player won the first set 9-4 but gave away the next 3-6. He lost the momentum in the last set and lost the match.

Earlier, he overwhelmed the gold medal hopeful Tajgul Lagari of Afghanistan 2-0 in the semi-finals. Purushottam, who had a first round bye, won the first set 5-3 and second 4-2. Sami Lama and Alina Chaudhary had won bronze on Friday.

Wrestling

DHAKA: Satendra Prasad Yadav struck a silver medal in wrestling on Saturday. Competing in the 120kg category, Satendra beat Najmul Haque of Bangladesh in the semi-final but missed out on a golden opportunity when he lost to Hitesh of India in final. Another wrestler Suvash Yadhav lost to Sri Lankan Roshan Indika Liyanage in the 66kg preliminary round. Likewise, Pralhad Yadav lost to Usman Shahid of Pakistan in the first round of 84kg category.

Cricket

DHAKA: Nepal defeated Maldives by 10 wickets to taste first win in the U-21 Twenty20 cricket tournament here on Saturday. Maldives were all out for a meager 55 runs in 16.4 overs and Nepal surpassed the total without losing any wicket in just seven overs. Anil Mandal was the pick of the Nepali bowlers with four wickets. Bhuwan Karki and Amrit Bhattarai claimed two each. Skipper Gyanendra Malla also grabbed one. In reply, Nepali openers Anil Mandal (29) and Subhash Khakurel (27) guided the team home in just seven overs. Nepal will play for the bronze medal against Pakistan.