Lalitpur, April 21

Ravin Shrestha won men’s below-100kg weight category gold medal on the opening day of the eighth South Asian Judo Championship at the Nepal Army Sports and Physical Training Centre today.

Shrestha defeated all three opponents in the league matches of the four-player event to win his first international medal. Shrestha saw off fellow Nepali judoka Suryaman Lama and Sri Lanka’s Bandula Bajjala before beating Bangladesh’s Md Abdul Kalam Ajad. Ajad bagged silver medal and Nepal’s Lama won bronze in the category.

Shrestha said he was happy for winning the gold for the country. “I am delighted to win first international medal of my career,” said Shrestha, who added that he was not confident of winning the medal. “Playing at home gives confidence but at the same time it is also a pressure,” said Shrestha, who competed in the senior event for the first time.

Other Nepali players failed to win gold medal. Shree Ram Makaju lost against Pakistan’s Qaisar Ram in the men’s below-90kg category final. Ramesh Bahadur Chand, who defeated Sri Lanka’s Gayan Abeysinghe, bagged bronze medal. India’s Jobandeep Singh also won bronze.

Meanwhile, Rajan Joshi defeated Bangladesh’s Md Hasanur Rahaman to win bronze medal in above-100kg section. Pakistan’s Shah Hussain Shah and Yasith Rathnayake of Sri Lanka won gold and silver.

In women’s category, Olympian and South Asian Games gold medallist Phupu Lhamu Khatri lost to India’s Sunibala Devi Huidrom in the below-63kg final and was limited to silver. Khatri, who had won gold in 12th South Asian Games in India two years ago defeating Huidrom, said the Indian opponent attacked on her weak zone.

“Ne-waza is a weak area for me and Huidrom was able to attack on that. I just could not manage to defend. And she came up with a different technique which I was not aware of,” said Khatri. “We did not get adequate training for the championship,” said Khatri, who had represented Nepal in the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Bangladesh’s Most Kaniz Sultana Happy and Sri Lanka’s Wasana Karunarathna bagged bronze medals.

In women’s below-57kg final, Nepal’s Lila Adhikari was beaten by India’s Angom Anita Chanu. The 12th South Asian Games silver medallist Manita Shrestha won bronze beating Pakistan’s Shumaila Gull, while Madushani Liyanage defeated Nepal’s Purna Rai in another bronze medal match.

A total of 106 players from six South Asian nations, except for Maldives, are taking part in the three-day event organised by Nepal Judo Association. The event has 64 medals — seven each gold and silver and 14 bronze apiece in two categories and eight medals in team events.