Lalitpur, December 5

Wushuka Nima Gharti Magar defended her gold medal in Taolu’s Nanquan Allround event under the 13th South Asian Games here at the Nepali Army Sports Complex covered hall today.

Gharti Magar, who had scored 9.31 points on the first day, earned 9.60 in Nando to accumulate 18.19 points to finish first in three-player field. She became the first Nepali player to defend the gold in nine years and first woman athlete to do so in 15 years. Taekwondo ace Deepak Bista had won the fourth consecutive gold in 11th SAG in Dhaka in 2010, while Sangina Baidya defended her gold medal in ninth edition in Islamabad in 2004.

Gharti Magar, the lone individual section Nepali gold medallist from the previous edition to participate in the 13th SA Games, said she concentrated on her own performance and did not much attention to the opponents. “I am extremely happy to achieve the feat as I had put in a lot of hard works for this,” she said.

Gharti Magar finished ahead of Bangladesh’s Morzina Akther (16.3) and Sri Lankan MS Sanju Kumari (14.74). “I had a different feeling today as my parents and friends had come to watch my performance. It was a different environment compared to that of Guwahati,” she said. “The family and friends are very supportive and they also have make a lot of contributions in my journey,” she added.

In another event, Bishwo Budha Magar finished second behind India’s Suriaj Singh in men’s Taijiquan Allround.

Singh accumulated 19.22 points to win gold, while Budha Magar claimed silver with 19.13 points.

Bangladesh’s Md Rasel Hossain (18.68 points) was third.

Also, Mina Glan came second in women’s Taijiquan Allround. Sri Lanka’s MLDTS Gunasekara won gold with 18.66 points, while Glan claimed silver with 18.44 points and Bangladesh’s Dipti Das was third with 16.65 points. In Taolu section, Nepal bagged four gold, two silver and one bronze medals.

Meanwhile, Juni Rai was the lone Nepali wushuka to win gold medal in sanshou and that came after a gap of 13 years. Rai defeated WPMM Madumali of Sri Lanka in the women’s 56kg weight category, while Bidyapati Chanu of India and Saki Akther of Bangladesh finished joint third. No Nepali player has won a sanshou gold medal since Raj Kumar Rasaili bagged one in the 2006 Colombo SA Games.

Alina Chaudhary (52kg), Binda Pun (70kg) and Silu Dangol (75kg) bagged silver medals for Nepal in women’s section. In men’s section, Mangal Tharu (60kg) claimed silver, while four wushukas Ashok Khaling (52kg), Chitra Singh Thakuri (70kg), Nikesh Shrestha (80kg) and Kiran Saud (85kg) won bronze on the final day of the event.