KATHMANDU: Surendra Gwacha of Mid-Western Region and Saraswoti Bhattarai of Far-Western Region claimed the 1,500m gold medals in the Inter-school National Games, organised by Youth and Sports Ministry in coordination with the National Sports Council, here at the Dasharath Stadium on Sunday.

Surendra won the boys’ section race in 4min, 35.46sec. Santosh Chaudhary (4:36.54) of Mid-Western and Ram Narayan Chaudhry of Western Region finished second and third respectively. Likewise, Saraswoti won the girls’ 1,500m gold in 5:22.70. Dilmaya Karki (5:24.15) of Mid-Western and Sunmaya Kunwar (5:36.10) of Central Region claimed silver and bronze medals respectively.

Prabin Gurung of Western Region clinched the boys’ 400m gold in 55.79. Ratan Chaudhary (56.63) of Mid-Western Region and Sudip Gurung (58.70) of Mid-Western Region earned silver and bronze medals. Sipora Gurung (1:08.18) of Western Region claimed the girls’ 400m gold followed by her teammate Puja Thapa (1:08.80) and Manisha Khanal (1:11.93) of Mid-Western. Rajesh Maharjan of Mid-Western Region won the boys’ shot put gold with a throw of 11.63 metres. Nabin Gurung (11.18m) and Binod Thanet (11.02m) of Western Region bagged silver and bronze medals. Likewise, Anju Chaudhary (8.52m) of Mid-Western Region claimed the girls’ shot put gold. Sita Bohara (7.97m) of Far-Western and Aruna Shahi (7.37) finished second and third.

In all, 28 gold medals — 14 each in boys and girls’ sections — are up for grabs. The Games feature athletics, volleyball, football and boys’ cricket. Earlier, Youth and Sports minister Ganesh Nepali inaugurated the tournament. NSC member secretary Jeevan Ram Shrestha was also present on the occasion.

Football

Kathmandu: Dhading hammered Pyuthan 9-0 on the opening day of the boys’ football tournament here at the Dasharath Stadium. Raja Ram Adhikari struck a hat-trick (49th, 50th, 52nd minutes), Gopi Krishna Bhandari scored twice (16th, 30th) and Sunil Thapa (seventh), Ashish Sherpa (33rd), Ayatulla Miya (60th) and Ranjit Timalsina (66th minute) added a goal apiece for Dhading.

Also winning were Udaypur, Kavre and Kapilvastu. Udaypur saw off Gorkha 6-2 on two goals from Bijay Magar (47th, 58th) and one apiece from Madan Karki (seventh), Bikram Thapa (45th), Prem Sahani (61st) and Arun Rai (67th minute).

Kavre laboured to a 3-1 win over Nawalparasi in tie breaker after a 1-1 draw in normal time. Binod Lama extended the match with the 43rd-minute equaliser after Narayan Chaudhary had put Nawalparasi ahead in the 17th minute. Sagar Magar, Kush Raj Basnet and Rajan Makaju scored for Kavre while only Guna Bahadur Khawas scored for Nawalparasi in penalty shootout.

In the other match, Kapilvastu crushed Darchula 6-0. Manjit Pariyar scored a brace (38th, 59th) while Santaram Tharu (sixth), Hem Bahadur Malla (44th), Sujan Rana (51st) and Yogendra Thapa (65th) added one goal each.

In the girls’ football, Nawaparasi humbled Kapilvastu 7-0 with Mina Khatri (20th, 39th) and Hasina Begam (46th, 49th) scoring two goals each. Dalimaya Bhandari (seventh) and Uma BK (16th) also added one goal each.

In the other girls’ match, Darchula edged past Udaypur 3-1 in tie breaker. The match was decided on penalty shootout after a 1-1 deadlock in normal time. Juni Rai had given Udaypur the 37th minute lead before Priti Chaudhary levelled the scores in the 54th minute. Janaki Bohara, Sima Chaudhary and Gita Joshi scored for Darchula while only Juni Rai was on target for Udaypur in the tie breaker.

In all, 20 district teams in both the sections are taking part in the football tournament — annual programme of the Youth and Sports Ministry — organised by All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) under the auspices of National Sports Council (NSC).

Volleyball

KATHMANDU: Western Region registered two wins in both boys and girls’ sections. They beat Mid-Western 25-15, 25-9 before seeing off Eastern Region 25-12, 25-20 in the boys’ section. Their girls’ team defeated Eastern Region 25-3, 25-10 and overcame Mid-Western 25-7, 25-14. Also winning in the boys’ section were Far-Western, Mid-Western, Central Region.