Shillong, February 15

Nepali taekwondo players made disappointing performance in the 12th South Asian Games as the sport finished without a gold medal for the first time since the event was included in the regional games in 1999.

Nepal had won 14 golds out of 16 events in the eighth SAF Games when the sport made its debut in 1999 on home soil, while Nepal won six golds in 2004 in Islamabad before bagging two each in the next two editions in 2006 Colombo Games and Dhaka Games in 2010. The sport also holds a record in South Asia, Deepak Bista’s four consecutive gold medals. And it is the taekwondo that has produced two Nepali athletes who qualified for Olympic Games — Sangina Baidya and Bista.

Nepal fielded 13 players in the ongoing SA Games and the Olympians were assigned with the jobs of coaches. The most successful players in Nepali sports, however, failed to win a single gold medal as Nepal ended the campaign with seven silver and three bronze medals. After three silver and as many bronze medals in the first two days, four Nepali made it to the final today, but none of them were able to beat their opponents in final.

Ayasha Shakya, wife of taekwondo ace Bista and the only player in Nepal’s 384-member squad who won gold medal in the previous edition in Dhaka five years ago, came close to defending the title before she lost to India’s Margerita Regi in the sudden death in the below-62kg weight category.

Shakya, the 2006 Asian Games bronze medallist and silver medal winner of 2006 SA Games, was 2-6 down in the final round. But she fought back to level the scores at 6-6 and forced the sudden death. The most experienced player among the Nepali taekwondo players, Shakya charged for the golden point with 84 seconds remaining but ended up conceding three points to slap. Shakya was 2-1 up in the first round and maintained the scores in the second.

Earlier, Shakya defeated Bangladesh’s Biswas Bandana before outplaying Bhutan’s Sonam Yangtsho in the semi-finals. Shakya said she made the biggest mistake in sudden death. “I am sorry that I could not give gold medal for the country. I made a mistake by making the first move,” said Shakya, who could not stop tears from her eyes. Shakya was forced to change her weight category after giving birth to a baby boy two years ago.

In women’s below-53kg, Neema Gurung suffered a 16-8 defeat at the hands of India’s Latika Bhandari in an one-sided affair. She defeated Sri Lanka’s S Gunawardana in the first bout before beating Nila Ahmadi of Afghanistan to enter the final. Gold medal hopeful Shaksham Karki faced a 7-1 loss against India’s Navjeet Man. He had registered a 2-0 victory over G Kafayatullah of Afghanistan in the first round and beat Bhutanese Kusung Wangdi in the semis. Debutante Bir Bahadur Mahara lost 12-9 against Afghanistan’s Ahmad Ali Bakshi in the final. He beat Sri Lanka’s Delan Sanjeeva 20-10 in the first round before defeating Bhutan’s Chhimi Wangchuk 17-5 in semis.

Coach Bista said the result was the outcome of the lack of participation in international tournaments. “No matter how much we train the players, results will not come until we send them to international events on regular basis,” said Bista. “Most of the players are playing their first international tournament, while the senior members of the squad are competing after two to five years,” added Bista.