POKHARA, OCTOBER 17
Seven national records tumbled on the third day of swimming competition under the Ninth National Games here at the Fishtail Academy pool today.
Four records in men's 400m freestyle, three in 100m butterfly and two in 200m breaststroke have been broken till third day along with one each in women's 100m butterfly, women's 200m breaststroke, men's 50m backstroke and women's 400m freestyle relay taking the tally to 13.
On Monday, four swimmers - Nasir Yahya Hussain of Tribhuvan Army Club, Aashish Sapkota of NRNA and Bagmati duo Ervin Shrestha and Seren Singh - broke the men's 400m freestyle record in the finals.
TAC swimmer Hussain, who held the record of 4:33.05, won gold medal with the new best time of 4:08.64. Sapkota won silver in 4:22.45 and Shrestha claimed bronze in 4:25.74. Fourth-placed Singh also broke previous mark finishing the distance in 4:25.92 but he failed to touch medal.
Hussain also set new mark in 100m butterfly. He won gold medal in 57.86 seconds breaking the previous mark of 59.77 set by Anubhav Subba. Aashish Sapkota of NRNA (59.68) and TAC's Subba (59.73) - who also broke the previous record - won silver and bronze medals respectively.
Hussain then led the TAC team to record victory in the men's 400m freestyle relay. Hussain, Anubhav Subba, Dilip Thapa Magar and Alexander Shah won the gold medal in three minutes and 45.51 seconds breaking the previous mark of 3:46.83 held by Nepal Police Club.
NPC team of Gaurav Lama, Dipanker Awale, Sankarsana Bahadur Raghubanshi and Subigya Man Tuladhar came second in 3:46.37, also a record time. APF team of Ajal Kaji Tamrakar, Urgen Maharjan, Jaden Shrestha and Tenzin Namdol Ryan Gurung finished third in 3:53.25.
NRNA's Ashley Sapkota Dangol won the women's 100m butterfly in record time of one minute and 7.74 seconds, breaking the previous best of 1:09.97 held by Gaurika Singh. NPC's Megan Gurung came second in 1:14.24, while Rosha Neupane of Bagmati was third in 1:18.74. Her younger brother, Aashish Sapkota broke 200m breaststroke national re-cord on his way to winning gold. Sapkota came home in 2:29.60 breaking the previous best of 2:31.15 held by Shuvam Shrestha. Bikash Kumal of Province-I also beat the previous best time and bagged silver, while Seren Singh was third in 2:36.74.
Gaurika Singh won women's 50m backstroke gold with a timing of 30.80 seconds, finishing ahead of NRNA's Ashley Sapkota Dangol (31.11) and Bagmati's Rosha Neupane (34.61).
Olympian and four gold medal winner of 13th SA Games, Singh won her second gold of the day when she led the TAC team to victory in 800m freestyle relay.
Singh, Anushiya Tandukar, Upasti Maharjan and Duana Lama finished first in 9:27.73, while NPC team of Aarya Maharjan, Sarasi Khadka, Sameera Shova Thapa Magar and Tisa Maharjan bagged silver in 10:01.30.
Bagmati Province team of Shrenu Maharjan, Rosha Neupane, Xaria Maharjanand Tisa Maharjan won the bronze medal in 10:09.57.
TAC swimmer Duana Lama won women's 200m breaststroke gold in record time of 2:43.23, improving on her own mark of 2:44.28.
TAC's Upasti Maharjan came second in 2:56.97, while NPC's Adipsha Vaidya was third in 3:00.03.
Alexander Shah improved his national record in 50m backstroke. He won gold in 27.46 seconds, bettering his own mark of 27.54. APF swimmer Tenzin Namdol Ryan Gurung came second in 29.61 and TAC's Anubhav Subba was third in 30.17.
Bodybuilding
Tribhuvan Army Club won the team championship of bodybuilding. TAC accumulated 59 points. On Monday, TAC's Lalit Dhimal won 80kg section gold medal, while his teammate Umesh Rai finished first in above-80kg weight category. Gandaki's Pradeep Regmi won Sports Physique gold in 170cm section,while Awatar Shrestha of Province-I came first in above-170cm section. TAC's Sweta Kapali won gold in women's model physique, while APF's Puja Shrestha bagged gold in women's bodybuilding.
Cricket
Nepal APF Club and Nepal Police Club advanced to the final of the women's cricket at the Pokhara Stadium. APF defeated Lumbini Province by 67 runs, while NPC beat Bagmati Province by 36 runs. The third-place and final matches are slated for Tuesday.
Football
Nepal APF Club thrashed Gandaki Province 5-0 in women's football in Waling. Ranjana Darji scored a brace, while Anita KC, Saru Limbu and Anita Basnet netted one each for the departmental side. In another match, Province-I recorded a 6-0 victory over Karnali. Anjana Thulung Rai scored two goals, while Anita Gurung, Pratikshya Rai, Tirtha Kumari Limbu and Mamata Raut netted one each for the winners.
In men's section, APF advanced to the semi-finals as Group B winners. APF came from a goal down to beat Bagmati 3-1 at the Gosteghat grounds in Lamachaur.
Abhishek Rijal put Bagmati ahead in the first half before APF's Pradeep Lama levelled the scores and Nabin Lama netted twice in the second half to complete the victory. In another match, NPC outplayed Lumbini 4-1 in a meaningless Group C match. Tribhuvan Army FC have already advanced to the semi-final as group winners.
Squash
Amrit Thapa of Gandaki Province won men's singles gold medal in squash. Thapa defeated Bagmati's Arhant Keshar Singh 12-10, 8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8 in a competitive final. He won men's singles gold in three successive National Games. Bagmati's Amir Blon and Gandaki's Deepak Thapa won bronze medals.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 18, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
