Kathmandu, December 7

A day after winning the second gold medal, swimming sensation Gaurika Singh added a silver medal in the 13th South Asian Games here at the International Sports Complex pool today.

Singh finished second in women’s 100m backstroke event with the new national record timing of one minute and 03.15 seconds. She improved on her own mark of 1:07.22 set during the eight National Games earlier this year. India’s Manna Rajiv Patel won gold in 1:02.36, while her teammate Ridhima Veerendra Kumar bagged bronze in 1:05.72. Indian swimmers dominated the pool today as they claimed all seven gold medals on offer on the third day of the competition.

Singh became the first Nepali swimmer to claim individual section gold medal on Thursday when she won the 200m freestyle event in two minutes and 5.06 seconds. Olympian Singh then won the women’s 200m backstroke event in the record time of two minutes and 17.73 seconds yesterday.

With the silver today, Singh equalled her record of four medals in a single meet. She had claimed a silver and three bronze medals in the previous edition of the SA Games in Guwahati three years ago. She had become the first Nepali swimmer to win individual section medal in Guwahati.

In other events, Duana Lama and Alex Gadegaard Shah broke national records. Lama, the youngest athlete from Nepal in the 13th SA Games, finished fourth in women’s 50m breaststroke event improving on her own record of 35.82 set during the FINA World Cup in Singapore last year.

Likewise, Shah broke Nathan Dorje Shepa’s record in men’s 100m backstroke event. Shah finished the race in 1:02.10 breaking the previous mark of 1:04.06.

Fencing 

KATHMANDU: Nepali fencer Rabina Thapa claimed silver medal in women’s individual sabre event.

Thapa faced a 15-10 defeat at the hands of Mujib Fatima in the final.

Thapa had made it to the final beating her teammate Asmita Basnet in the semi-finals. Basnet and Diana Devi of India bagged bronze medals. Nepali players Januka Syangtan and Indira Paudel won bronze medals in epee event after losing in semi-finals. Indian fences claimed gold and silver. Indian fencers claimed top two spots in men’s individual foil event, while Sri Lanka won bronze. Out of the six events completed so far, Indian fencers have bagged five gold medals, while Sri Lanka claimed one.

Boxing 

LALITPUR: Three women boxers advanced to the final on the second day of boxing tournament. Lalita Maharhan defeated Sri Lank’s Nadika Pushpa Ranasinghe in 48kg semi-final bout, while Minu Gurung beat Bangladesh’s Onita Islam in 54kg section.

Likewise, Sangita Sunar made it to the 60kg final defeating Sri Lankan boxer Keshani Hansika Kasturi. On Friday, Poonam Rawal earned bye to enter the 64kg final. In men’s section, Sushil Thapa Magar lost to Indian boxer Tanwar in 49kg semi-final bout, while Puran Rai also bagged bronze after he went down to Mohd Robin Miya in the 64kg semi-finals. Bhupendra Thapa advanced to the 64kg final after he defeated Mohd Alamin of Bangladesh, while Arjun Sigu lost to India’s Gaurav Chauhan in 91kg bout.

Tennis 

LALITPUR: Nepal won five bronze medals in tennis, while India have confirmed at least bagged six gold medals. Nepal’s Prerana Koirala was restricted to bronze after she faced a 6-0, 6-0 defeat against India’s Satwika Sama in semi-finals, while the Nepali pairs of Koirala/Saloni Tamang and Abhilasha Bista/Ira Rawat lost against Indian pairs in women’s doubles semis. Earlier, Nepal had won bronze medals in men and women team events. India won both team events gold medals, while they have set all- India finals in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles.

Football 

KATHMANDU: Bhutan advanced to the men’s football tournament final at the Dasarath Stadium, while Nepal kept their hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over Maldives. Bhutan thumped Sri Lanka 3-0 and claimed the top spot in the five-team round robin league with nine points. Nepal are second with seven points and will face Bangladesh in the last league match on Sunday. Bangladesh have four points.

Nepal can make it to the final with a draw, while Bangladesh need clear victory to have a shot in final. On Saturday, Nepal fell behind when Ibrahim Sussain found the back of the nets in the 18th minute.

Abhishek Rijal scored the equaliser in the 43rd minute before Ananta Tamang netted the winning goal in the 55th minute. Sri Lanka and Maldives crashed out from the tournament. In another match, Chhimi Dorje, Dawa Chhiring and Yasi Dorje netted one goal each to send Bhutan to their first ever final.