RAJBIRAJ: Nepal Police Club clinched three gold medals to claim the team championship of the third Lokendra Shrestha Memorial National Judo Championships here at the Raj Stadium today.

Raj Bahadur Chand and Sushila Adhikari added two more gold medals today giving the championship trophy for the departmental team of Nepal Police. Chand defeated Anil Patel of Banke in men’s 73kg weight category final. Navneet Jha and Rabin Shrestha finished third.

In the women’s 48kg final, Adhikari overcame Sonu Khadka of Kailali to win the gold. Aruna Thapa Magar and Roshani Rai were the losing semi-finalists. Apart from the three gold medals, the police team also won three bronze medals.

Parsa also claimed three gold medals but they were restricted to the second spot after winning just one bronze medal. Multi-purpose Martial Arts Centre (MMAC) finished third with two gold and as many bronze medals. In the fight for 12 gold medals, Kathmandu picked up two while Kavre and Nuwakot claimed one each.

The 10th South Asian Fedeartion Games silver medallist Ranju Rai added the third gold for Parsa in the women’s 57kg final outplaying Fupu Khatri of MMAC. Pramila Khadka of Nepal Police and Srijana Napit of Kathmandu finished joint third.

Saroj Maharjan and Archana Shrestha both won gold

medals for Kathmandu. Maharjan saw off Sunil Nagarkoti of Rasuwa in the men’s 60kg final while the bronze medals went to Prem Tamang of Nepal Police and Jeevan Ranabhat of Tribhuvan Army Club. Shrestha emerged victorius in the women’s 40kg final bout defeating Asma Gurung of Rasuwa. Mina Rai of Jhapa and Sonam Lama of Banke took bronze.

Rahin Thapa Magar of Nuwakot defeated Diwakar Basnet of Lalitpur to claim the 50kg gold. Ram Lama of MMAC and Chandra Limbu of Ilam were the losing semi-finalists. Sunil Nagarkoti of Rasuwa and Fumulama Khatri of MMAC were declared the best players of the tournament in men and women’s sections respectively.

A total of 105 players — 77 men and 28 women — participated in the tournament from 22 districts, Nepal Police Club and Tribhuvan Army Club. The tournament was played without the 11th SAG qualifying players. The gold medalists in the men’s 60kg and above and women’s 48kg and above weight categories won their berths for the Rajeev Gandhi International Judo Tournament due to held in India from February 20 next year.