Rai, Karki finish first

LALITPUR: Asmita Rai of Nepal Police came first with 371 points in the Air Rifle section at the Women’s Shooting Tournament. Ful Maya Kyapchhaki (370) and Rita Devi Shrestha finished second and third respectively. In Air Pistol, Sangita Karki (354), Sabita Basnet (351) and Saraswati Baniya (347), all from Nepal Police, grabbed top three spots. NSC member secretary Kishor Bahadur Singh gave away prizes to the winners. The two-day event was organised by Nepal Shooting Association to mark the 55th birthday of Queen Komal. — HNS

Bidur, Lalitpur triumph

KATHMANDU: Bidur Municipality defeated Gaur Municipality 2-0, Lalitpur Municipality beat Kamalamai Municipality 5-0 and Janakpur Municipality beat Dhulikhel Municipality 1-0 in the day’s matches of the Birendra Memorial Inter-municipality Regional Football Tournament in Jaleshwor today. In Gaighat, Dhankuta Municipality defeated Lahan Municipality 5-0. Another match in Damauli between Putali Bazaar Municipality and Ramgram Municipality has been rescheduled for Saturday. — HNS

Shrestha, Pradhan win

KATHMANDU: Krishna Shrestha won the men’s 30-kg section title at the second Nationwide Full Contact Kyokushin Karate Tournament, which started today. Jay Lama finished second, while Parashuram Dhakal and Raj Kumar Rumba came joint third. In 50-kg final, Deepak Pradhan beat Man Bahadur Pariyar, while Sher Bahadur Pun and Raj Kumar Kuchingar came third. Birendra Oli, Bikash Raj Shrestha and Raj Kumar Shrestha grabbed the top three spots in 65-kg. In women’s open category, Sanu Lama and Bindu Rana came first and second respectively whereas Pratikshya Tamang and Manjur Katuwal finished joint third. — HNS

Keegan leaves Man City

MANCHESTER: Former England manager Kevin Keegan left Manchester City after refusing to commit himself to a new contract. The club issued a statement saying that the former Liverpool and Hamburg star would leave immediately “by mutual consent” with 18 months of his current deal still to run. He said he didn’t want to stay on at the club after his contract ran out in 2006. — AP

N Korea trounce Guam

TAIPEI: North Korea trounced Guam 21-0 and Hong Kong defeated Taiwan 5-0 on Friday in the preliminary round of the 2005 East Asian Football Championship. Both Hong Kong and North Korea are undefeated with three wins. On Sunday, the two teams will play for the right to take part in the finals to be held July 31-August 6 in South Korea. Mongolia and Taiwan will play for the third and fourth places. — AP

Australia plan move

SYDNEY: Australia hopes to move from the Oceania Football Confederation to its Asian counterpart. “Our ambitions in football can’t be fulfilled as long as we remain in Oceania,” Frank Lowy, chairman of Football Federation Australia, said. “We have come to the conclusion that Asia is the place to be. Asia is going to invite us and Oceania is happy to have us go, and now FIFA have to deliberate on that,” he said. Lowy said officials from the AFC and Oceania have sanctioned the move, while FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter, also has indicated his approval. — AP