Nepal´s teenage swimming sensation Shirish Gurung set a new national record at the Nanjing Olympic Center and Nitesh Paudel succeeded in reaching the second round in fencing, while there were disappointments for swimmer Aditi Dhital and athlete Sangita Khadka. Dhital and Khadka´s trip were fruitful only in gaining experience.
Gurung clocked 2 minutes 12.42 seconds in the men´s 200m freestyle to break the national record of 2 minutes 13.84 seconds, which was also in his name.
In the course of setting the new national record, Gurung finished ahead of Khaled Alsamsi of the United Arab Emirates and Ayaha Mohammad Khan of Pakistan in the 200m heat. He was trailing in the beginning but overtook the two opponents in the final lap for a respectable finish in the event Gurung, who holds national records in six different swimming events, will now compete in the men´s 100m freestyle. Another Nepali swimmer, Miraj Prajapati, is also set to compete in the event.[break]
“I was unaware that I had broken the national record. I was just thinking I needed to speed up in the final lap. I came to know about the record later on. I felt quite happy about it,” said Gurung. “I feel that I can still improve on the record,” he added.
Gurung said he failed in the recently held FINA World Championships in Barcelona as he tried to catch up with the others. But this time, he concentrated on his own game and managed to break the national record.
“Maybe I could have set a national record in Barcelona too but I just hurried to catch up with the rest of the swimmers and ruined my own chances. I didn´t repeat the mistake here,” he said.
Gurung, Prajapati and Dhital will travel to Dubai next week to compete in the Junior FINA World Championships.
While Gurung was able to save his blushes with his late surge, another swimmer Aditi Dhital finished the women´s 200m freestyle in the last position among 23 swimmers. She clocked 2 minutes 44.64 seconds for a disappointing finish.
Meanhwile, Nitish Paudel made it to the second round of fencing in the epee individual event. Competing alongside 25 participants, he was able to cross the first hurdle after garnering the adequate points required to reach the knockout stage. However, his fairytale run came to an end soon as he lost 15-4 against Al Dosari Mohammad of Qatar in the second round.
Paudel, who had earlier competed in the South Asian Fencing Championship in Hyderabad, India, said it was a great opportunity to learn from this experience in the Youth Asian Games that has drawn talented players from around the continent.
At the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, Nepali middle-distance runner Sangita Khadka finished 12th in the women´s 1500m race with a timing of 5 minutes 4.96 seconds. She improved her personal record of 5 minutes 11 seconds in her international debut and was also able to finish ahead of athletes from Thailand, Mongolia, Palestine and Yemen.
Guyu Zhao of China claimed gold in the event clocking 4 minutes 35.06 seconds in front of her home crowd.
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