Shillong, February 14

Nepali taekwondo players failed to win gold medal for the second straight day in the 12th South Asian Games here at the Neighrims Indoor Stadium in Shillong today.

Hopefuls Yan Kumari Chaulagain and Gyani Chunara both lost in finals as Nepal ended the day with two each silver and bronze medals. Nepal won a silver and bronze on the opening day.

Chunara faced a 10-7 loss against Afghanistan’s Humaira F Shah in the below-57kg final. Chunara fell behind in the opening seconds of the bout but levelled the scores 1-1 in first round. She was 3-6 behind in the second round following a kick on her face. Shah then earned another three-pointer to extend the lead against hapless Chunara.

Earlier, Chunara defeated Pakistan’s Nusrat Bibi 7-0 and registered a 11-8 victory over India’s S Ramchiary, who had a first-round bye. Chunara opened the scoring but she was 2-1 down in the first round, while she bounced back to take 6-4 lead in the second. The players were tied at 8-8 at one stage in third round but Chunara scored three points in the latter stages to enter the final.

Another gold medal hopeful, Yan Kumari Chaulagain suffered a heavy 12-4 defeat at the hands of Indian Purva Dixit in the below-49kg final.

Chaulagain surrendered meekly without having a single attack in the first two rounds and could score her first point with 45 seconds remaining in the third and final round, that too after a review to make it 7-1. She did score three more points but her opponent was too strong to be beaten.

Chaulagain, who defeated Bhutan’s Pema Dechen 8-6 in first round, hammered Pakistan’s Ayesha Noor 9-2 to make it to the final. The 11th SA Games bronze winner Chaulagain was held to 0-0 score in first round before she took a 1-0 lead in the second round of the last four bout. Chaulagain began the third round with a hammer before she lost two points to warnings to make it 5-2. She then took control of the bout for a convincing victory.

In men’s section, Nischal Shrestha and Sunil Poudel were restricted to bronze medals. Shrestha, who beat Sri Lanka’s Gayan Perera in the first round, lost to Manu George in semi-final in below-74kg bout. In 58kg category, Poudel entered the semi-finals with a bye and lost to India’s Gajendar Pahrihar. Also, Purna Bahadur Khadka lost to Sri Lanka’s Pium Sanjeewa in 87kg weight category.

On Saturday, Rejina Karki staged a great comeback from a 2-6 down to draw 8-8 draw after three rounds before she lost 0-1 in sudden death in the below 46kg final against Pakistan’s Yasmeen M khan.

Playing in her first international tournament, Karki made a positive start and deservedly took a lead but the Pakistani player hit back to go 6-2 ahead moments into the third round. Karki fought back and drew level at 8-8 with a hammer kick in the dying moments forcing the extra time. Both the players were in the mood of defense in the extra time and Khan made the first move to warn the golden point with 56 seconds remaining.

The 22-year-old Karki said she could not handle the pressure in the extra time of the bout. “I had never faced such situation earlier and I could not hear coaches’ instruction because of the roaring crowd,” she said. “I am extremely sad that I could not win gold for the country as expected by my coaches. I had put in a lot of efforts in training and I also played accordingly. But Lack of international exposure cost me the gold medal,” added Karki.

Coach Sangina Baidya praised Karki’s performance. “She played extremely well in her bout. But a small mistake cost her the gold medal,” said Olympian Baidya. “She did not listen to us in sudden death and remained at back foot.”

Likewise, Ram Hari Mahat ended up the men’s below-87kg weight category with a bronze after he lost 14-0 to P Anand in semi-final bout. He made it to the last four beating Md Masud Pervez of Bangladesh.

In other bouts, Mahamad Wesh of Nepal suffered a 13-7 loss at the hands of Nikpa Rohullah of Afghanistan in below-68kg, while Chandra Bahadur Rana Magar lost 13-1 against Afghanistan’s Rexaei Mohsen in first round.

Silver in triathlon

Nepal won silver medal in the mixed relay event of triathlon in the 12th South Asian Games at the Dr Zakir Hussain Aquatics Complex in Guwahati on Sunday. Roja KC, Yam Kumari Ghale, Himal Thapa and Rudra Katuwal finished second with the timing of one hour, 31 minutes and 35 seconds. India finished first in 1:24:31, while Sri Lanka came third in 1:32.05. This is Nepal’s second medal in triathlon. Roja KC won the women’s individual bronze medal on Saturday.

The mixed relay event is played by all four athletes, with each athlete needing to complete 300m swimming, 6.5km cycling and 1.5km running one after another. General Secretary of Nepal Triathlon Association Nilendra Raj Shrestha said silver medal was also an achievement. “We came here with a target of gold medal. We realised that three-month training was not enough for that,” he said. “India are way ahead that other nations but they are also not beatable. We defeated Sri Lanka, who are also strong in the region. And today’s performance has shown that we can beat India in upcoming events,” he added. This is the first time triathlon was included in the SA Games.

Shooting

Nepal finished fifth in men’s 10m Air Pistol at the 12th South Asian Games in Guwahati on Sunday. Suman Tuladhar, Kuber KC and Ramlal Gurung accumulated 1,563 points in the team event. India won gold with 1,735, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka came second and third respectively. Tuladhar scored 553 points, while KC earned 524 and Gurung accumulated 486 points for Nepal. In individual section, Indian shooters won gold and bronze, while Pakistan bagged silver.

Handball

Nepal lost both men and women semi-final matches in handball in Guwahati on Sunday. The women’s team lost 33-28 against Bangladesh. Nepal will now face Pakistan in the third-place match. In men’s section, Nepal lost 51-23 against India. Nepal will next play against Bangladesh in the bronze medal match.

Boxing

Boxers Deepak Shrestha, Saraswoti Rana and Minu Gurung lost their semi-final bouts of the 12th South Asian Games at the NEHU Complex in Shillong on Sunday. Shrestha lost to Sri Lanka’s Dinidu Saparamadu in 64kg weight category, while Gurung faced a defeat against another Lankan boxer K Anusha Diltukshi in 51kg section. Likewise, Rana went down against India’s L Sarita Devi in below-60kg weight category. Boxing had fielded seven men and three women boxers in the regional games and they ended the campaign with three bronze medals.