Shahi lost to Iranian Asmani Rahleh 5-4 in the quarterfinal match of women´s 62 kg weight category. The match was competitive and full of dramatic turns. [break]
The first round of the match was scoreless but Shahi gained 3 points in the first 30 seconds of the second round through a hammer kick. Rahleh and Shahi both gained a point each. Meanwhile, referee awarded 3 points to Rahleh for hammer kick but the video replay showed that Rahleh´s kick was not eligible for points. The second round ended at 4-1.
In the final round, referee warned Shahi and awarded 3 points to Rahleh to make the score 4-4. Rahleh gained a point with the last five seconds to go and won the match. If Shahi had won the match, she would have secured at least a bronze medal.
Shahi, the silver medalist of the 11th South Asian Games (SAG), was highly rated for Asiad medals after she won gold in Korea Open and silver medal in India Open recently.
"I was never warned by a referee in such fashion in my entire career. There was no reason behind warning me in today´s (Friday´s) match. I got nervous after the warning," said Shahi. She said the referee was biased toward her referring the incident of the video replay.
However, Korean coach for Nepali taekwondo squad Kwan Yung Dal said that Shahi could not play as expected. "She played defensive after leading the match. There was problem with her stamina today," said Dal.
Taekwondo, the game that has fetched highest number of medals to the country in the Asiad, is waiting for a single medal in Guangzhou. After Shahi´s loss, coach Dal said that the logical chances of winning medal in Guangzhou ended. "We can still win if luck favors us," said Dal.
Meanwhile, Rashna KC lost to the South Korean opponent in women´s 67 kg quarterfinal. Referee had to stop the match with 30 seconds remaining as KC was behind by 18-1 score.
"It was her first international match, where she had to face tough opponent. It would be wrong to expect more from her in such situation," said Nepali coach Min Neupane.
Likewise, Sujan Joshi and Asish Maharjan failed in the first round of their weight categories on Friday. Joshi lost to Iranian Reza Naderiyan 10-2 in men´s 63 kg while Maharjan lost to Said Gaffer Galeh of Qatar 6-2 in men´s 68 kg.
Sujan Pujari (men´s 58 kg) and SAG silver medalist Kumar Manandhar (men´s 54 kg) are still to compete in their weight categories.
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