In men´s 100 m Tilakram Tharu could only better his personal timing in front of 40,000 spectators as he finished last in the first heat of the race. Tharu who had set his best timing of 11.21 seconds at the Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore, completed the distance in 11.14 seconds.[break]
No Nepali athlete has been able to beat the national record of 10.71 seconds in 100 m set by Ram Krishna Chaudhary during the Eighth South Asian Games (SAG) held in Kathmandu in 1999.
In women´s 100 m Chandrakala Thapa finished last in the eighth heat despite clocking 13.28 seconds to level her best timing set during the Asiad qualifiers.
Devimaya Paneru holds the national record in women´s 100 m with a timing of 12.19 seconds. Paneru had also set the record during the Eighth SAG.
Likewise, Sabitri Nepali bettered her own record in women´s 400 m sprint. Nepali clocked 1 minute 2.64 second to better her own timing. Nepali had recorded her previous best of 1 minute 5 seconds during the Asiad qualifiers. Nepali, however, finished last in the heat.
Pramila Rijal holds the national record in the event with 59.90 seconds. Rijal had set the record during the Fifth National Games.
Mohan Ghale, who is in Guangzhou as the coach of short distance race, said that though he was dissatisfied with Thapa´s performance he was happy with the two other athletes. "Tharu and Nepali bettered their own timings and I am satisfied with them, but Chandrakala couldn´t do anything better than qualifying. She must have done better than that here."
Boxing
Nepali boxer Anuradha Lama on Sunday failed to give continuity to achievement gained by Deepak Maharjan in the 16th Asian Games on Sunday.
Lama was humiliated by Chun Chyu Sui of Chinese Taipei in women´s 57-60 kg category. In her first round bout, Lama was defeated 6-0 on the basis of points.
Now Sanju Lama will compete in women´s 48-51 kg category on Monday against Kankan Rain of the hosts China.
Nepali coach Prachanda Sharma expressed dissatisfaction toward Lama´s performance. Sharma said that Lama failed to play with high level of confidence against the Chinese Taipei player. Four years ago also, Lama was defeated by a Chinese Taipei player.
"I had not expected such a performance from Lama. She had won bronze in the Asian Championship two years ago, and had competed in the World Boxing
Championship one and a half months ago after taking a month-long special training in Barbados. So I had high expectations from her," a disappointed Sharma said.
Remembering her performance in the World Championship, Sharma said Lama was then defeated 6-3 by a Korean opponent despite giving her a tough challenge. "But the memories of the match held four years ago made her nervous. She was mentally defeated before the fight," he added.
No Asiad for kabaddi
It has now been confirmed that Nepali women´s kabaddi team will not be participating in the 16th Asian Games (Asiad) being held in Guangzhou, China.
The women´s kabaddi team will not be able to participate in the Asiad as Nepal Police did not send their players on the request of the National Sports Council (NSC) and the NSC-reshuffled Nepal Kabaddi Association (NKA).
In a letter to the Asiad organizing committee, Nepali chef de mission Umesh Lal Shresth on Sunday informed the chief of the organizing committee that Nepali kabaddi team will not be able to participate in the Games.
Kabaddi games begin in the Asiad from Monday.
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