Nepal down to third position

KATHMANDU, Oct 11: Nepal has dropped one place to the third position in the ongoing First South Asian Beach Games at the end of the fourth day. Nepal has won one gold and five bronze medals in the tournament being held at Hambantota beach in Sri Lanka.



India dominates the medal tally with seven golds, seven silvers and a bronze. [break]



Host Sri Lanka is in the second position. Altogether 400 players from eight nations are competing for 26 golds, as many silvers and 28 bronze medals.



In the last match of women´s kabaddi, Nepal faced a humiliating 60-21 defeat at the hands of Bangladesh to finish fourth out of four teams.



However, Nepal still bagged a bronze medal despite losing all of its round-robin matches as there were only four teams. Likewise, Nepal´s men´s team also won bronze medal.



Internationally-recognized Nepal Kabaddi Association´s president Sunil Rajkarnikar expressed happiness after winning medals despite losing all the matches. "The medal will encourage the players to perform well in the upcoming tournaments."



However, the men´s kabaddi team captain Sanjay Shrestha had a different opinion. He said that to win a medal without winning a game will not encourage the players.



HANDBALL



Nepal Handball Association President Tej Bahadur Gurung came down to the field, due to lack of players in the handball squad, and scored three goals for Nepal although the team lost to Sri Lanka. The Nepali squad didn´t have any substitute player and was competing with only three players after Bipin Bista was given a red card for two fouls. Despite Gurung´s entry in the field, Nepal lost the match in two straight sets. The host scored 21-8 in the first set and 14-2 in the second.







In another match too, Nepal suffered two straight sets defeat against Pakistan. Nepal lost the first set 25-9 and the second 16-5. Amar Shrestha scored four goals for Nepal. Shrestha said the team performed better than the first match. President Gurung who had played in the first game did not participate in the match against Pakistan.



VOLLEYBALL



Women´s team of Nepal defeated India in beach volleyball keeping its medal hopes alive. The pair of Nita Shah and Chuda Khadka defeated the Malini-Ragana pair 21-9, 21-15. Coach Bharat Shah said the team lost its initial match due to lack of training. "Had we received proper training, we could have aimed for gold."

Khadka said that they have gained valuable experience of playing in the beach and their target is to get bronze medal for Nepal.



Maldives will host second edition



The Maldives will be hosting the second edition of the Beach Games in 2013 as decided by the meeting of South Asian Olympic Committee. Nepal Olympic Committee General Secretary Jeevan Ram Shrestha informed that the total number of games to be included in the second edition will be decided later.



Shrestha said the Maldives had not conducted such a big event earlier so the meeting had approved the proposal of the Maldives.

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