Shutllers Dhami, Maharjan end Tamang era
Dang, April 20
Dipesh Dhami of Nepal APF Club and Rashila Maharjan of Tribhuvan Army Club ended the domination of Tamang siblings Ratnajit and Nangshal in the 40th National Badminton Championship under the eighth National Games here in Ghorahi today.
Dhami defeated Ratnajit in straight sets of 21-17, 21-4 in the men’s singles final to end the TAC shuttler’s seven-year winning run.
Tamang won the four National Badminton Championship titles since defeating the then Nepal No 1 Bikash Shrestha in the 36th edition in Kathmandu. And he also dominated the national level events organised by private sector, except for the Annapurna Corporate Badminton last year.
Likewise, Rashila Maharjan stunned three-time national champion Nangsal in the women’s singles final. The 14-year-old Maharjan registered a hard-fought 19-21, 21-14, 24-22 victory over fellow TAC shuttler.
Maharjan, a ninth-grade student, also became the youngest winner in the history of National Championship. Maharjan had recently won the Krishna Mohan Memorial National Badminton Championship.
APF dominated the championship winning five out of seven gold medals. TAC bagged the other two.
Bijit Thapa and Dipesh Dhami of APF defeated TAC duo Ratnajit and Nabin Shrestha 21-18, 21-12 in men’s doubles, while APF pair Puja Shrestha and Jessica Gurung registered a 21-15, 11-21, 21-17 victory over TAC’s Nangsal and Anu Maya Rai.
Also, APF pair Dipesh Dhami and Puja Shrestha won the mixed doubles gold with a 21-10, 21-17 victory over Gautam Kathayet and Jessica Gurung.
Athletics
Ashish Chaudhary of Nepal APF Club and Saraswoti Chaudhary of Tribhuvan Army Club won the 200m gold medals in the 44th National Athletics Championship at the Beljhundi Stadium in Dang.
They had also won the 100m gold medals on the opening day on Thursday.
Ashish completed the race in 21.83 seconds to finish first ahead of fellow TAC athlete Abhishek Chaudhary and Prakash Rana Magar of Province-3. Likewise, Saraswoti won the women’s section gold in 26.66 seconds. Jayarani Chaudhary of Province-5 and TAC athlete Krishna Chaudhary came second and third respectively.
In field events, Chitra Bahadur Oli of TAC bagged discuss throw gold medal. Oli covered 37.02 metres to finish first ahead of Puskal Khadka of NPC and Ranjil Shrestha of Province-1.
TAC’s Amrita Mahato won the women’s section gold with the distance of 36.03 metres, while Sangita Adhikari of Province-5 and APF’s Jit Kumari Mahato came second and third respectively.
TAC athlete Surya Bahadur Khatri won the high jump gold with the jump of 1.85 metres, while NPC duo Gopal Chaudhary and Bikash Khand Thakuri came second and third respectively. APF’s Shila Chaudhary won gold with the jump of 1.50m, finishing ahead of Sangita Sinjali. Bindu Chaudhary and Anita Chaudhary came joint third.
Taekwondo
Kamal Shrestha of Nepal Police Club won three gold medals in the National Taekwondo Tournament in Bhairahawa. Shrestha bagged the individual, doubles and team event gold medals in poomsae. Shrestha teamed up with Parbati Gurung in doubles and was the member of the team along with Jit Bahadur Bot and Prem Bahadur Limbu.
Parbati Gurung won women’s individual section gold and teamed up with Mira Rana and Nirmala BK to finish second in women’s team event behind Province-1. Nepal Police Club dominated poomsae with four gold medals and a silver.
Sepak-takraw
Tribhuvan Army Club won the Regu category gold medals in the fifth National Sepak Takraw Tournament in Gulariya, Bardiya. TAC defeated Gandaki Province 23-25, 21-4, 21-16 in the men’s section final, while Province-3 finished third with a 2-0 victory over Farwest. In women’s final, TAC registered a 21-15, 21- 10 victory over Province-3. Gandaki beat Farwest 2-0 to finish third.
