KATHMANDU, Sept 14: Nepal"s veteran judo player Deepak Krishna Shrestha underlined his dominance once again by knocking out his opponent in just 18 seconds to secure gold medal during the 12th National Judo Championship on Saturday.[break]
Shrestha, who had clinched two golds -- one individual and one in team event -- during the Sixth National Games in Dhangadhi last year, defeated Ramesh Chand of Saptari with ease in the final of men"s U-81 kg weight category. He secured full points on the basis of ippon after bringing down Chand to the ground applying Osotogari technique, one of the original 40 throws developed by judo"s founder Jigoro Kano.
The 32-year-old from Kathmandu is renowned for knocking out his opponents using uchimata technique and has been dominating the national judo championships for the last 16 years.
“This is my fourth gold (individual) in national championships,” Shrestha told Republica.
He has also a South Asian Judo Championship gold under his belt, which he won in 2011 in Islamabad in team event.
He just returned home after competing in the Judo World Championships in Brazil and is aiming for an individual gold medal in the South Asian Games (SAG), which has eluded him despite playing well in the regional competitions.
He secured bronze in the 8th SAG in Bangladesh in 2010 but had missed out during the 7th SAG in Colombo in 2006 as he lost to an Afghan player in the final moments despite maintaining lead throughout the game.
“I was eying victory in Colombo after taking a big lead with wazari and yuko points but I conceded knockout equivalent ippon with just six seconds remaining,” he said.
“After all these years, I just wish for one last gold medal in the South Asian Games,” added Shrestha, who hopes his experience in the World Championships will help him win the title.
There were also joys for Ramesh Magar and his brother Umesh as both of them won gold medals on the second day of the tournament on Saturday to secure the fifth gold for Kathmandu district, which tops the medals tally.
With just two events left, Kathmandu is ahead of second-placed Nepal Police Club, which has four golds. Nepal Army is third in the standings with two golds.
Ramesh defeated Pawan Shrestha of Nepal Army in the final of men"s U-66 kg category. He scored one wazari point and two yukos and was the clear favorite to win the match that lasted for a full five minutes. Shrestha was penalized twice while Ramesh was booked for one offense during the match.
Sumanta Chhetri of Armed Police Force and Himparwa Khatri of Bhaktapur finished joint third in the event.
Meanwhile, Umesh, the younger brother of national champion Ramesh, secured gold without much effort. His opponent, Diwakar Basnet of Lalitpur, was sent off soon after the men"s U-55 kg final kicked off, for committing an offense of touching Umesh"s leg which is not permitted according to the new rules.
Khel Bahadur Gurung of Nepal Army and Narayan Budhathoki of Banke both settled for third position.
In the above-90 kg heavyweight section, Kaluman Tamang of Nepal Army clinched gold defeating all of his opponents in the league matches. Shiva Bahadur Baram of Army finished second while Ashish Ojha of Kanchanpur and Rajan Ojha of Kailali secured third position.
In the women"s section, Lila Adhikari of Nepal Army took just 10 seconds to knock out her opponent and claim gold. She used seionagi technique to defeat Aita Sarki of Kathmandu in the final of women"s U-48 kg weight category.
Sushila Adhikari of NPC also won gold in an identical fashion. She knocked out Kabita Pun of Nepal Army in the final of women"s U-57 kg section in exactly 10 seconds.
Meanwhile, Indira Rai of NPC defeated Pasang Tamang of Kanchanpur in the women"s U-70 kg final.
Fourteen gold medals have already been decided on the first two days of the competition. Two more golds are up for grabs in the men"s and women"s team events each on Sunday -- the final day of the championship.
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