KATHMANDU: Nepal Judo Association (NJA) feted the 11th South Asian Games medallists with cash rewards today.

The 11th SA Games bronze winners Deepak Krishna Shrestha (73kg),

Rajan Joshi (above 100kg), Radha Devi Rai (52kg) and Debu Thapa (63kg)

were awarded with Rs 7,000 each. Coaches Mashahiro Maeda, Surya Narayan Shrestha and Dal Bahadur Gurung along with team manager Dharma Pachai also received Rs 3,000 each.

The NJA President Deepak Harsha Bajracharya also presented an export quality carpet to all the bronze medallists, coaches and manager. In all, five judokas took part in the 11th SA Games in Dhaka from January 29 to February 9. Nepal won eight gold, nine silver and 20 bronze medals.

The Judo governing body of Nepal also honoured the International Rajiv Gandhi Judo for Peace Championship bronze medallists with Rs 1,000 each. Judoka Devendra Karmacharya, Raj Bahadur Chand, Shree Ram Makaju, Elin Maharjan, Ranju Rai, Fupulamu KC, Indira Rai, Sunita Bohora along with coaches Ganga Bahadur Dangol, Chandra Narayan Chaudhary and team manager Khadga Bahadur Dahal received the cash rewards.

Meanwhile, the NJA also presented Rs 5,000 each to the judokas Kaluman Tamang (above-100kg) and Ramesh Magar (66kg) who were unable to participation in Dhaka Games after sustaining injury in an elevator crash at the Imperial Hotel in Dhaka. Both the players including Debu were hospitalised at the nearby Square Hospital. Gold medal hopeful Debu, however, braved her injury to compete in the tournament to claim the bronze medal.