Weightlifting returned home with empty hand for the first time in SAG history while judo managed to win only four bronze medals. Likewise, Nepali men´s football team crashed out from the tournament as they lost to hosts Bangladesh, and Maldives. [break]
Nepal also has high hopes from karate, wushu and taekwondo. However, Nepali players are yet to prove their mettle in the events.
Taekwondo and wushu teams are already in Bangladesh and are getting acclimatized to the SAG-environment while Karate team will reach here on Friday.
Wushu will begin on Friday in Sylhet, about 300 km far from Dhaka, while karate will kick off on Sunday in Mirpur. However, karate will start on Saturday in Dhaka.
Though gold medalists of the 10th SAG Colombo Bina Lama Khadka and Raj Kumar Rasaili are not participating in the 11th SAG, wushu is expected to bring home gold.
Purushottam Rijal was drawn directly into the semi-finals of the men´s 70kg category in wushu on Thursday. He received the first round bye during the draw held in Sylhet. However, Nepal expects much more from him and his colleagues. Apart from preparation, the first day also saw players undergo weighing formalities.
In karate, gold medalist of 10th SAG Kushal Shrestha and silver medalist Suvadra Shrestha are vying for the gold medals in Mirpur.
Likewise, 3-time gold medalist Deepak Bista, 10th SAG gold winner Manita Shahi and silver medalist Ayusha Shakya are all eyeing gold in Dhaka and will try to make up for Nepal´s upsetting results in other tournaments.
SAG gold medalist and former karate player Deepak Shrestha says players may be under intense pressure as all eyes are on them.
Deepak thinks Afghanistan´s rapid growth in martial arts may put Nepali players under pressure.
“Afghanistan is doing well and poses us a tough challenge. India is powerful as always and Bangladesh has the home ground advantage,” he said. “However, I also expect gold from our experienced players and they have potential to overcome all the challenges.”
Shooting
Nepal´s women´s team remained at the bottom of the table in 10 meters air pistol shooting event during the 11th South Asian Games here on Thursday. Five teams, including Nepal had participated in the event.
Nepali shooter Trishna Thapa scored 353 points out of 400 while Sima Tuladhar scored 347 points. Babita Tuladhar remained at the bottom among the teammates with 342 points. India won the gold medal in the event while Pakistan claimed silver. Bangladesh secured bronze in the event.
No Nepali shooters qualified for the individual event of 10 meters air pistol, whereas Indian shooters won all three medals. Top eight shooters of the team event qualify for the individual events.
Nepal´s men´s team claimed bronze on Wednesday in 10 meters air rifle team event while women´s team had failed to put up a good show on Tuesday. Another Nepali men´s team will compete in 10 meters air pistol event on Friday.
Squash
Nepal lost to Pakistan 3-0 in the round robin of squash team event during the 11th SAG at the Dhaka Club on Thursday.
In the first match of the event, Suresh Kumar Gurung faced Farhan Zaman. Farhan clinched an 11-1, 11-0, 11-0 victory over Suresh.
Mansoor Zaman in the second match defeated Sudeep Bahadur Singh 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 while 16-time Nepal champion Hira Bahadur Thapa lost to Farhan Mehboob 5-11, 5-11, 12-10, 3-11.
Nepal had lost to Sri Lanka 3-0 on Tuesday.
Golf
Nepali golfers ended their team golf campaign with the fifth position at the end of the second and final round here at the Kurmitola Golf Club on Thursday.
Rupak Acharya maintained his card of three-over 75 while Tashi Ghale registered 14-over 86, Tashi Tsering scored 15-over 87 and Bishnu Prasad Sharma carded embarrassing 17-over 89.
The Nepali team could not better their first round total score of 240 but rather went down with the total of 248 in the second round on Thursday. The Nepali team was 66-stroke behind Bangladesh, which maintained the card of 10-under 422 in total.
Only three best scores of a team were counted for a team total. Indian team (three-over 435) claimed the silver and Sri Lankan clinched bronze medal with the total score of 15-over 447.
In the Individual section, Rupak went further down from first round eighth position to 11th with six-over 150.
Handball
Nepal lost to Pakistan 45-15 in handball semifinal during the 11th South Asian Games here on Thursday.
Nepal´s hopes of entering the final looked almost impossible when Pakistan took 23-4 lead in the first half of the match. Bishal Nepali scored first goal of the match within the first minute but physically and technically tough Pakistanis dominated Nepal in every department of the game.
In the first few minutes of the second half, Nepal showed some energy and resistance but could not continue it for long.
Bipin Bista scored 4 goals for Nepal while Amar Shrestha added 3 more. Bishal, Dinesh Kumar Bista, Dipak Singh Bohara scored two each and Dipendra Chand and Rajendra Hamal scored a goal each.
Nepal will now take on Bangladesh in bronze medal playoff.
Women´s football
High flying Nepali women´s football team tasted a bitter defeat against India on Thursday during the 11th South Asian Games at the Kamalapur Stadium.
Nepal, who defeated Bangladesh 1-0 and thrashed Sri Lanka 8-0, suffered a 5-0 loss on Thursday from India.
Nepal conceded a shocking goal within the 30 seconds of the match and could not maintain their level in the whole match. Tababi Devi Thongram scored the first goal for India.
Sasmita Malik´s double blows in 30th and 37th minutes put Nepal 3 goals behind in the first half.
Tababi added her second and India´s fourth in the 55th minute. In the remaining time, Nepal showed some resistance but Laishram Naobi made the score 5-0 in the 84th minute.
"As they conceded early goal, our girls came under pressure. Midfield and forward line could not hold the ball," reacted Coach Dhruba KC.
"India scored five goals but they are not such a skillful team, we can beat them," said KC. He claimed that his team will defeat Pakistan in the next match on Saturday and qualify for the final where they would meet India.
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