Kamal bettered his own national record in snatch but his dreams shattered here at the National Sports Council Gymnasium on Sunday as he was disqualified in the clean and jerk. [break]
There were only three lifters in his 69 kg weight category and he was sure to win at least bronze but could not complete the clean and jerk in three attempts provided.
The gold medalist of Colombo SAG attempted for silver with 152 kg in clean and jerk and could have beaten the Pakistani opponent had he succeeded. He failed in all three attempts.
Earlier, the Nepal Army´s Kamal lifted 117 kg in snatch to break his own previous record of 115 kg set during the fifth National Games in Kathmandu.
Kamal was overcome by the loss. "I had won gold during last SAG and my motherland had great expectations from me this time. At this point in time I want to say sorry to Nepal and all Nepalis who prayed for my victory," said Kamal. "This is a shocking result for me," an emotional Kamal said.
Sri Lanka won the gold in Kamal´s event.
Knowing that top Sri Lankan and Pakistani lifters were there in the 69 kg weight category, the Nepal Weightlifting Association had earlier requested SAG officials to switch the weight category for Kamal. SAG rules allow a player to compete in an overweight category but the organizers had denied the request.
In 56 kg weight category, Nepal´s Hem Shankar Chaudhary failed to win any medal earlier on Sunday. Chaudhary lifted 75 kg in snatch while he lifted 100 kg in clean and jerk and stood in the fourth position among five weightlifters. Sri Lanka´s Wata Asse Kamal won the gold in Hem´s event.
Nepal´s 3rd bronze in judo
Nepali Judoka Deepak Krishna Shrestha bagged bronze in judo at the Savar Stadium.
Deepak achieved medal in men´s 73 kg weight category while Indian judoka Balvinder Singh won the gold. Karamat Butt from Pakistan bagged silver while Habibur Rahman of hosts Bangladesh also secured bronze.
In the league matches, Deepak lost to Indian and Pakistani players but defeated Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi players to secure bronze.
Nepal lose to Maldives in basketball
Nepal lost to Maldives 69-62 in a league match of men´s basketball.
Nepal started superb in the first quarter as they scored 23 points against 13 of Maldives. Nepal scored 19 in the second quarter while Maldives scored 18. In the third quarter both the team scored evenly 16 each.
Nepal were leading the match 58-47 till the last quarter began. In the last quarter Nepal totally lost their rhythm and scored just 4 points against 22 the Maldives.
Rabindra Man Maharjan topscored for Nepal with 14 points.
Women´s kabaddi secures bronze
Nepal women´s Kabaddi team lost their first league match but they still secure bronze medal in the event. They lost the first match to hosts Bangladesh 10-33 at the Kabaddi Stadium, Dhaka.
However, they secured bronze as there are only four teams -- Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka -- in the event. Since there is no provision for third place play-off, every participating team will return with a medal.
Nepal lost kabaddi opener in the men´s event to hosts Bangladesh 20-41 while they lost their second match against India for 47-12.
Nepal win first medal in badminton
Nepali team secured its first medal in the 11th South Asian Games from the womens´ Badminton here on Sunday though it lost all five matches against India in the semifinal.
As Sara Devi Tamang and Sujana Shrestha are in the world ranking, Nepal achieved byes in the quarterfinal and directly played semifinal to secure the bronze medal.
In the semifinal, Indian player Sayali Digambar Gokhle defeated Sara Devi 21-6, 21-12 in singles of the team event. Likewise, Sujana Shrestha lost to Indian Thulasi Puthenpurayil Chandrika 4-21, 4-21 while Ashwini Ponnappa Machimanda defeated Nangshala Devi Tamang 21-13, 21-9. India outclassed Nepal in every department of the game and Nepali players were unable even to cover their court.
In double match of the team event, Shruti Kurien and Aparna Balan teamed up for India and eased past Pooja Shrestha and Sara Devi 21-9, 21-6. Likewise, Indian duo Ashwini and Thulasi thrashed Sujana and Nangsal Devi 21-4, 21-8.
Nepali coach Uday Shrestha accepted that Nepali players could not match up to the Indian standard. "Since our players were in ranking, we received byes. However, India is far ahead of us," said Shrestha.
Likewise, Nepali men´s team lost to Sri Lanka in all five semifinal matches but secured bronze medal as they got byes and directly reached the semifinals. In the semifinal match played on Sunday Sri Lanka´s Nuwan Sanadjaye defeated Nepal´s Sajan Krishna Tamrakar in straight sets both at the score of 21-14 while Niluka Karunaratne eased past Bikash Shrestha 21-18, 21-9. Similarly, Dinuka Karunaratne thrashed Ratnajit Tamang 21-6, 21-13. In team´s double Dinuka and Niluka teamed up against Kishore Rana and Sajan and won the match 21-13, 21-8 while duo Bikash and Bishal Pradhan lost to Sri Lankan Rajeetha Sandipana and Sahitha Chandana 10-21, 13-21.
Bangladesh defeat Nepal in cricket
Nepal lost the opening T20 cricket match to hosts Bangladesh by 8 wickets during the 11th SAG.
The U-21 Nepali cricket team won the toss and elected to bat first in the Rajshahi Cricket Ground and put up 80 runs only in 20 overs losing their 7 wickets.
Binod Bhandari topscored with 18 runs for the Nepali team while captain Gyanendra Malla and Suvash Khakurel each scored 14 runs. Sagar Pun was not out for 10 runs.
Hosts Bangladesh easily met the small target set by Nepal in 9.3 overs in the loss of 2 wickets. Mithun Mohammad topscored for Bangladesh with 41 runs while Asif Mohammad added 28 runs. Bhuwan Karki took both the wickets for Nepal.
Coach Arun Aryal said that players could not perform as expected. "The pitch has a low bounce which affected our performance," said coach Aryal.
Nepal will take on Sri Lanka in the second match of the league round at the Rajshahi Cricket Ground on Monday.
Bangladeshi batsman Mithun was adjudged man-of-the match.
Pakistan thrash Nepal in volleyball
Nepal lost first match in men´s volleyball to Pakistan during the 11th SAG at the Soharawardy Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Nepal lost the match in straight sets. Pakistan took the first two sets 25-16, 25-15. Nepal showed some resistance in the third set but could not stop Pakistan from victory. Pakistan thrashed Nepal 25-21 in the third set to add to Nepal´s disappointment in the ongoing South Asian Games.
Weak performance in cycling
Nepali cycling team failed to show a good performance in 80 km men´s time trial cycling on Sunday and hit the bottom in the competition participated by five nations.
Nepali team, which includes cyclists Ajay Pandit Chhetri, Narayan Gopal, Mangal Krishna Lama and Raj Kumar Shrestha took 2 hours 1 minute two complete the trial. India won the gold in the event by completing it at 1 hour 44 minutes while Pakistan and Bangladesh achieved silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Pak rout Nepal 19-0 in hockey
Pakistan recorded an effortless 19-0 victory over Nepal in the 11th South Asian Games hockey at the Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday. Pakistan led the first half 8-0 and added 11 more in the second half.
Wasif Siddique alone scored 6 goals for Pakistan. He scored his first in the second minute and added five more in the 33rd, 51st, 52nd, 61st and 67th minutes. Likewise, Abdul Qayyum scored five goals. Zeeshan Ali and Sabtain Raza scored two goals each while Moshin Bilal, Zubair Ahmed, Abdul Khaliq, Naghman Ahmed scored one each. Nepal will take on Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Apology over lift, anthem episodes
The South Asian Olympics Committee has apologized over the fall of a hotel elevator in which nine Nepali players were injured.
The committee´s 41st meeting on Sunday morning called it ´a sad incident´ and apologized for it.
The meeting also decided to take all responsibility of the treatment of the injured players. The 11th SAG organizing committee informed Nepali delegates in the meeting that Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had shown her concern about the incident and ordered to manage security and accommodation of the players properly.
Likewise, the organizing committee apologized for playing the wrong national anthem of Nepal in two different venues. "They apologized for playing wrong national anthem and accepted their mistake," Shrestha said.
India to host next SAG
The South Asian Olympics Committee´s 41st meeting in Dhaka declared India as the host nation for the next South Asian Games.
General Secretary of Nepal Olympic Committee Jeewan Ram Shrestha informed Nepali media that India was nominated to host the biggest South Asian sporting event in 2012.
This will be the third time India will be hosting the SAG. India had hosted the Third South Asian Games is Kolkata in 1987 and Seventh SAG in Madras in 1995.
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