The pair of Suwal and Gothe recorded a 3-1 victory over Tajikistani opponents in men´s doubles on Tuesday. Along with the first round victory the duo booked a place in last 16.[break]
After registering a comfortable 11-3, 11-6 victory in the initial two sets they lost third 11-9. But the duo made an impressive comeback in the fourth set and won 11-5 to make it the decisive one.
Nepali team manager Shankar Gautam has termed this victory as the achievement of the team. "The boys played better than expected and proved themselves technically sound than the opponents. Despite poor preparation and condition of Nepali table tennis the victory is a great achievement," Gautam said.
In another match, Nepali doubles team consisting of Ranjit Singh Rayamajhi and Purusottam Bajracharya were humiliated 3-0 by Hong Kong. They lost 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 respectively.
Soft Tennis
Manoj Subba failed to make it through to the soft tennis semifinal under men´s singles section on Tuesday despite emerging group winner in the previous round. In the match for semifinal berth, Subba was defeated 4-0 by Chinese Taipei player.
Earlier, in course of his quarterfinal journey, Subba hammered India 4-1 and recorded a hard fought 4-3 tiebreaker win over Laos and South Korea to emerge as the group winner.
In another men´s singles match, Ashok Singh crashed out of the group stage after he was beaten by Chinese Taipei, Mongolia and Philippines player. Singh lost 4-0 to Chinese Taipei, 4-2 to Mongolia and 4-2 to Philippines.
Badminton
Nepal´s participation in the Asiad badminton remained a mere formality as Nepal lost women´s singles and doubles and men´s doubles on Tuesday. In women´s singles Saradevei Tamang was humiliated by Kataz Kaka Chan of Hong Kong in straight sets 21-12, 21-5 and in another match Sujana Shrestha was thumped by Prompti of Thailand in straight sets 21-4, 21-4. In women´s doubles, Tamang and Shrestha´s pair lost 21-3, 21-4 to Korean´s pair of Minjun Kim and Lee Lee Hyojungle. Likewise, Ratnajit Tamang and Sajankrishna Tamrakar´s team also lost men´s doubles match in straight sets.
Taekwondo
Nepali taekwondo aces Manita Shahi, Kumar Manandhar and Laxmi Rana are directly drawn for the quarterfinals as they received byes for the first round. If they win their first fights they will ensure at least bronze medals. The draw, which was published on Tuesday, gave all three players the chances. Shahi is competing in women´s 62 kg weight category while Rana will play in women´s 49 kg. Kumar will represent country in men´s 87 kg in Guangzhou.
Chess
Nepali FIDE Master Bilam Lal Shrestha had a disappointing day at Asiad chess as he lost both eighth and ninth board matches played on Tuesday. Shrestha, rated 2138, however, succeeded in scoring four points after completion of the final round. Shrestha finished 29th among 46 players.
Nepal champion Badrilal Nepali won the eighth round match against Lee Sanghoon of Korea but lost to FM Kojima Shinya of Japan. Nepali, rated 2102, scored 3.5 points and finished in the 35th position.
Under women´s category, Asmita Adhikari defeated compatriot Monalisa Khumbu in the eighth round but went on to lose both the boards later.
Wushu
Nepal´s high hopes of winning medals in the 16th Asian Games (Asiad) in wushu have been dashed after the last two Nepali participants failed to grab hold of any medal on Tuesday. Ang Babu Lama and Sami Lama both were defeated in their respective rounds at the Nansa Gymnasium.
However, the 11th South Asian Games gold medalist Ang Babu Lama succeded in excelling five other players in two events that he participated in to rank 14 among 19 participants in the men´s tai-chi and tai-chi chen. Lala was able to finish ahead of the only other South Asian competitor from India in both the events.
In the women´s chan-chuan, Sami Lama stood 13th out of players fielded by 17 nations.
Nepali wushu team´s manager Nanibabu Tamang said beating Indian player in the Asiad is the success that Nepal has achieved. “We were able to surpass South Asian opponents. This is definitely our success,” he added.
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