JAKARTA, Aug 29: Nepal is closer to its first medal of the ongoing 18th Asian Games as it moved to the second spot at the end of the fourth round of men’s team cross country event of paragliding in Gunung Mas Puncak, Indonesia on Tuesday.

Nepal scored 2,798 points in the fourth round of the event. The fifth round will be the decider for the medal that will be played on Wednesday. Japan is at the top with 3,298 points, while the Republic of Korea is third with 2,192 points.

The Nepali team is comprised of Bimal Adhikari, Sushil Gurung, Bijay Gautam, Yukesh Gurung, and Bishal Thapa. On the other hand, Nepali women gliders finished at the sixth position at the end of the fifth round of the women’s category. The team had scored 216 points in the fourth round. The Republic of Korea is leading with 1,843 points, while Japan is second with 1,079 points and the host Indonesia is third with 803 points. 

The team is comprised of Prativa Bhujel, Trisha Bhomjan Tamang, and Sabita Tamang. 

Volleyball
Nepal has registered historical first win over Mongolia at the Asian Games in Jakarta as it beat the team 3-1 in the men’s volleyball. Nepal went 26-28 down to Mongolia in the first set, but recovered well to win the remaining sets in the match.

It saw off Mongolia 25-16 in the second set and defeated the team 30-28 in the third round. Nepal finalized its victory claiming a 25-19 final set win. Earlier, Nepal had lost 3-0 Chinese Taipei in its first match and faced a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Republic of Korea in the second.

Sepak takraw
Nepal faced a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Vietnam in the men’s quadrant preliminary round at JSC Ranau Hall. Rupesh Sunar, Dipesh Jung Thapa, Govinda Magar, Sanjeet Dhimal, and Rabin Bhattarai represented the team.

Squash 
The Nepal men’s squash team ended its Asian Games journey losing to Japan 3-0 in the men’s team event. Amrit Thapa Magar, Arhant Keshar Simha, Gyanu Chaudhary, and Rajendra Shakya represented the team. 

Kurans
Nepal has also exited from kurans with an embarrassing 10-0 defeat at the hands of Uzbekistan in the men’s 66-kg round of 16 weight category match. Upendra Thapa vied against Ruslan Buriev on Tuesday.

Earlier, Thapa had cruised into the last 16 after defeating Syed Samuillah 1-0 victory in the same weight category. Similarly, Bhagwati Majhi also exited from the round of 32 going down to Chinese Taipei’s  Chiawen Tsou in her first match of the tournament.

Skateboard 
Nepal’s Neris Thapa finished in the 15th spot in the men’s street preliminary round with 14.3 points on Tuesday.

Judo 
One of Nepal’s possible medal winning game will kick off from Wednesday which will see eight players participate in various events. 

Olympian and the South Asian Games (SAG) gold medalist Phupu Lhamu Khatri, Debika Khadka, Manita Shrestha Pradhan and Punam Shrestha will represent Nepal in the women’s Judo, while Indra Bahadur Shrestha, Sanjit Dangol, Shree Ram Makaju and Rabin Shrestha will take part in the men’s category. 

Sprinter Sunar sent home after injury
Member Secretary of National Sports Council (NSC) Keshav Kumar Bista on Tuesday gave permission to send Nepali sprinter Yam Sajan Sunar home after he submitted a written statement to not take part in the men’s 200-meter race.

Sunar submitted a written letter to Bista opting out of the race after he suffered a leg muscle problem. The men’s 200-meter race was scheduled to be held in the GBK Main Stadium on Tuesday. 

“We will investigate all issues of players and officials after reaching Nepal and we will take action if they had been found cheating the nation during the Asian Games,” Bista said.

“We will review all 29 sports disciplines after the mega sports event and we will take action if any association was found involved in wrong activities during the game,” Bista added.

Yam Sajan Sunar, Som Bahadur Kumal, Krishna Bahadur Basnet and Gopi Chandra Parkhi returned home on Tuesday. Earlier, Kumal had set a new national record.

Bista informed that the NSC will be taking action on Bishwo Rupa Budha’s 10,000-meter race issue and another case involving Wushu player Bir Man Lama. Two women sprinters are yet to run in their respective events, including Sarswoti Bhattarai who will run in the 1500-meters race on Wednesday.

 
• 18th_Asian_Games
 
• Indonesia