SPORTS BRIEFS:Pushpalal Memorial Chess tourney begins

KATHMANDU, July 29: Pushpalal Memorial Inter Campus Chess Championship, organized by Council of Free Student Unions, began in the capital on Sunday. Sajin Maharjan of Patan Samyukta, Bibek Lama of Times, Kshitij Bhandari of KEC, Kuber Adhikari of Tri-Chandra, Baburam Panthi of TU, Sangita Jaiswal of GoldenGate and Ashish Acharya of Pulchowk Engineering won their respective first round matches on Sunday. Likewise, Saru Basnet (Lalitpur Nursing), Shyam Babu Shah (Mahendra Ratna), Paras Mani Pokharel (Kathmandu School of Law), Debendra Sanjel (Makuwanpur Multiple), Chandra Bahadur Khadka (Surkhet), Rajan Dahal (NAMS) and Kundan Mishra (Law) also won their respective matches on the first day. Altogether 94 players from 48 campuses are taking part in the tournament. The winner of the tournament will get Rs 18,000 and the runner-up will bag Rs 12,000.



17 pass ANFA Referee Course

KATHMANDU, July 29: All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) handed over ANFA referee certificates to 17, out of the 39, who participated in the referee course that concluded on Sunday at Gaighat, Udayapur. After running the classes for a week for the participants from the 11 district associations of eastern region, ANFA had conducted an examination on Saturday. Referee Instructor Buddhi Bahadur Gurung and FIFA Assistant Referee Kiran Giri provided the training to the participants.



Belbari wins in Taplejung

TAPLEJUNG, July 29: Belbari Football Club of Morang entered into the second round of the Kanchanjungha Challenge Running Cup, football tournament being held in Phungling, Taplejung. Belbari thrashed BCS Club Sawadin, Taplejung 6-2 in the tournament of regional level on Sunday and entered into pre-quarterfinals. Likewise, Armed Police Force from Taplejung, Kanchanjungha Club of Phungling, Dear Youth Club of Sunsari and Shree-Baks Battalion from Taplejung reached the last 16.Athletes condole Mahato´s death



Athletes condole Mahato´s death

KATHMANDU,July 29: Athletes on Sunday condoled the demise of former shooting player Pancha Kumar Mahato. Mahato, 33, serving in the Nepal Army, died on July 16 in a bus accident at Krishnabhir, Dhading. He is survived by his wife and two children. National Sports Council member Mukunda Pahari, Nepal Shooting Association President Pushpa Das Shrestha, Olympian Tika Shrestha and others remembered Mahato during the function on Sunday.



Taekwondo coaches off to Seoul

KATHMANDU, July 29: Ten Nepali taekwondo coaches will participate in the 25th Foreign Instructor Course to be held in Seoul of South Korea, Nepal Taekwondo Association (NTA) said on Sunday. Coach Dhruba Gurung has already reached Seoul for the four-day course to be conducted by World Taekwondo Academy, while nine others left Kathmandu on Sunday. Gurung and Min Thapa will participate in the second level course, while Rabindra Malla, Parag Das Gorkhali, Raj Kumar Pandey, Gopal Rai, Bikash Shrestha, Rajendra Khatri, Rajan Shahi and Khamba Rai will attend the third level course. National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama bade farewell to the coaches amid a function held in the capital on Sunday.

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