Kathmandu, July 30

Nepal’s  Indra Bahadur Shrestha and Umesh Magar won bronze medals as Olympian  Phupu Lhamu Khatri faced defeat in the Thailand International North Bangkok  University Judo Championship today.

Shrestha claimed the medal in  men’s below-66kg weight category after beating Merales Nathaniel in the bronze medal match. Earlier, Shrestha saw off  Phuyensuk Kabet of Thailand in the first round, and returned to beat Choising Yong of  Hong Kong in the quarter-final bout. He faced a defeat against Oxywai Ali  Khan of UAE in the semi-finals, informed coach Surya Narayan  Shrestha.

Similarly, Magar won bronze in men’s below-60kg section.  Magar saw off Jaiwan Kurakoran of Thailand in the first round before  facing defeat against Nguyen Hong of Vietnam in quarter-final. However,  Magar earned a walkover win against Thai opponent in repechage to confirm the medal before  going down to a player from Cameroon.

Meanwhile,  Olympian Khatri, who competed in women’s below-63kg, faced defeat  against Senathan Orapin of Thailand in first round match. Also,  Manita Shrestha Pradhan, who won bronze medal in the 11th Asian Cadet  and 18th Asian Junior Judo Championship in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on July  16, lost against Warasiha Yuriko of Thailand in below-57kg  match, while Sunita Tamrakar was beaten by Thruong Thee of Vietnam in  repechase match for bronze medal of women’s below 70kg. Earlier,  Tamrakar had defeated Thammaphoran Anongnat of Thailand before losing to Thiphakon Sihamong of Laos in the quarter-final match.