Manita, Kumar lose

KATHMANDU: Nepali taekwondo players Manita Shahi and Kumar Manandhar failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after they were knocked out of the 2007 WTF Asian Qualifying Tournament in Vietnam on Thursday. Iran, Afghanistan and Thailand qualified from below 58kg weight category in which Kumar fought. Manita was knocked out from below 67kg as players from Kazakhstan, Philippines and Japan claimed the top three spots. Other two Nepali players — Deepak Bista (below 80kg) and Ayesha Shakya (below 57kg) will fight on Friday. — HNS

TIA Cup basketball

KATHMANDU: Hosts Trungram International Academy (TIA) and Daffodil in boys’ and Suryodaya and Valley Public in girls’ section advanced to the fifth TIA Cup basketball tournament finals. Samrat Shrestha netted 18 points in TIA’s 45-38 win over Valley Public while Nawang Sherpa scored 16 as Daffodil humbled out Golden Peak 54-25 in the boys’ section. In the girls’ section, Suryodaya beat Gyan Niketan 22-11 and Valley Public beat Manjughoksa 17-8. — HNS

School volleyball

LALITPUR: Namuna English Secondary School and Triratna won the inaugural matches of the fourth Valleywide Namuna Running Shield Boys’ Volleyball Tournament. Namuna beat Ananta School 22-25, 25-22, 25-18 and Triratna defeated Mahalaxmi 25-13, 25-21. Likewise, Mt Olive overcame Chetana School 25-22, 25-22 and CJS edged past Adarsha 25-10, 25-19. In all, 12 teams are participating in the tournament. — HNS