Defending champion Western Region looked in good form during the kick off, cruising past NPC in the first set. [break]Captain Manju Gurung was at her best, hammering killer shots to win the first set with ease.
But sweltering heat started to take toll on the performance of the holders, while NPC players showed their perseverance to win the remaining sets.
Western Region´s captain Gurung said that scorching heat was the main reason for their defeat.
“We couldn´t play well as it was too hot to continue playing. We also didn´t have two of our key players, Sipora Gurung and Pariksha Gurung, who couldn´t play due to injury,” said the captain.
NPC´s Kopila Upreti was adjudged the best player of the tournament. She received a check of Rs 10,000 from former captain of Nepali women´s volleyball team Anju Shrestha and her brother Anup. The cash prize was provided by Late Laxmi Narayan Shrestha Trust, which was established in the memory of the first Nepali international volleyball referee.
Anju Shrestha, who captained the Nepali team during the 10th South Asian Games, announced her retirement from volleyball after finishing fourth in the National Games from Central Region.
In the third place play-off, Armed Police Force defeated Central Region 25-23, 25-15, 25-17 in Shrestha´s swan-song. Shrestha is the daughter of late Laxmi Narayan Shrestha.
Judo
Central Region reinforced its dominance in judo finishing first in the National Games with nine golds by the end of judo events on Friday.
Central Region defeated Nepal Police Club 3-2 in a mouth-watering final of team event to add one more gold to the overnight tally of eight golds.
After playing full time, Ramesh Magar of Central Region knocked out Prakash Nepali of NPC in the first match of team event.
Upendra Thapa of Central Region also played full time against Raj Bahadur Chand of NPC in another match featuring the best players of Nepal but lost the match in golden score.
Deepak Krishna Shrestha of Central Region then knocked out Laxman Tharu of NPC to give a 2-1 lead to Central Region but his team-mate Sanjay Maharjan, despite scoring the first point, couldn´t hold, losing the match to Shree Ram Makaju of NPC as the score got tied at 2-2.
Allen Maharjan of Central Region was declared the winner as NPC didn´t have an opponent to field in the final match decider.
NPC finished second with seven golds.
Basketball
Central Region clinched the men´s basketball gold as it stunned the Universities´ team 55-52 in a three-point thriller during the final match played at the Dipendra Police School on Friday.
Central opened up a 16-11 lead in the first quarter as Binod Maharjan scored seven points. In the second quarter, Central scored 12 points against eight points of Universities´ team. Yukta Ram Bhakta Mathema and Sadish Pradhan kept Universities´ team in the game with six and four points in the third quarter though they still fell 12 points behind as Central went into the final period with a 46-34 lead.
In the final quarter, Central lost Maharjan because of five fouls. Pradhan and Rajeev Shrestha took the advantage of Maharjan´s exit. Universities´ team scored 18 points to that of nine from Central but remained three points behind. Shrestha scored 10 points while Pradhan scored eight points in the final quarter. Pradhan top scored in the match with 17 points while Maharjan scored 15 points for Central Region. Robin Khatri, who scored 14 points in the final, was adjudged the most-valuable-player of the tournament.
Western Region defeated Eastern Region 77-70 in the third place play-off to claim bronze medal. Universities´ team had won the gold medal in women´s basketball.
Handball
Western Region clinched the gold medal in the men´s handball of the Sixth National Games. Western Region edged past Armed Police Force 17-14 in the final played at the Dhangadhi Stadium on Friday. Pradeep Rasaili scored six goals for the winning side. Likewise, Central Region pulled an 18-17 victory over Far Western Region in the third place play-off played on Friday.
Bipin Bista was the highest scorer in handball with total 26 goals. Surya Prakash Shrestha was adjudged the best goalkeeper while Prabin Ojha received the award for the best player.
Meanwhile, veteran handball player Kuber Jeet Sawad of the Far Western Region took retirement from the game on Friday. Sawad, 44, had been regularly participating in the National Handball Tournament from ninth edition to the 15th.
Football
PLA Sports Club claimed bronze medal in men´s football on Friday at the Dhangadhi Stadium. PLA pulled a 1-0 victory over Nepal Police Club in the third place play-off match. Jiwan Lama scored the lone goal for PLA in the 82nd minute of the match. Far Western and Armed Police Force will lock horns in the final on Saturday.
Boxing
Asian Games bronze medalist Deepak Maharjan (Central Region) reached the final of the men´s 81 kg weight category. He will meet Meen Prasad Jora of Armed Police Force in the final.
Ratna Tamang of Nepal Police and Kumar Khan Thakuri of Western Region entered into the final of men´s 69 kg weight category of boxing while Debendra Maharjan of Armed Police Force will meet Shovit Khatri of Central Region in the final of men´s 75 kg.
Likewise, Ganesh Ram Chaudhary of APF and Max Basnet of Central Region reached the final of the men´s 91 kg while Rabindra Bahadur Rokaya of Far Western Region set up a final clash against Chandra Bahadur Gurung of Western Region.
In women´s 57 kg, Sanju Lama of APF will meet Renukala Tamang of Sunsari in the final. Saraswati Magar of APF set up a final clash with Pramila Rai of Sunsari in women´s 60 kg final while Minas Rai of Nepal Police will lock horns with Kopila Singh of Bajura in the final of women´s 64 kg.
Soft Tennis
Sohan Dhaubadel of Central Region claimed the gold medal of men´s singles in soft tennis. Dhaubadel defeated Krishna Bahadur Raut of Eastern Region 4-2 in the final match played on the court at Dhangadhi Stadium premises. Ashok Singh of Nepal Police Club and Shyam Lama of Eastern Region claimed bronze medals of the event.
Taekwondo Union
Ashok Khadka of Central Region claimed gold medals in men´s poomse event on Friday in taekwondo competition run by National Taekwondo Union. Dobar BK of Western Region claimed silver medal in the event. In men´s 50-55 kg weight category, Amrit Khadka of Western Region claimed gold medal while Nima Lama of Central Region clinched gold in women´s 46-49 kg weight category.
Gymnastics
The qualifying rounds of gymnastics kicked off in Dhangadhi on Thursday. According to gymnastics coach Nabin Upreti, six events were held in men´s category and two events in women´s category in the opening day of gymnastics competition. Medals will be decided in the following two days, according to Upreti.
Seventh National Games in Eastern Region
National Sports Council (NSC) decided to host the seventh edition of the National Games in Eastern Region. NSC board meeting on Thursday took the decision. "NSC took the unanimous decision to host the Seventh National Games in Eastern Region after two years," states the press release issued by NSC on Friday.
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