LRI came from behind to turn the game in its favor. LRI had lost the first quarter 8-10 and the second 10-11. [break]However, LRI bounced back in the third quarter scoring 11-9 to cut the lead of Pushpa Sadan to one point. In the fourth quarter, LRI scored 16-13 to seal victory.
Nikesh Rai was the highest scorer for LRI with 29 points.
HIMS and Valley Public also registered wins in their respective matches. HIMS beat Baba B 61-56 while Valley Public thrashed Gyan Niketan 76-33.
HIMS had taken a seven-point lead in the first quarter scoring 18-11. Baba took the second quarter 13-10 while the third ended at 13-13. HIMS came back into the game and took the fourth quarter 20-19 for victory. Dawa Gyaji Sherpa scored the highest 20 points for HIMS.
Likewise, Nima Sherpa´s 20 points guided Valley Public to the semifinals while Daffodil received a walkover. Valley Public will meet Daffodil in the first semifinal while LRI will face HIMS in the next.
Holder Prime, National advance
KATHMANDU: Defending champion Prime College, National Campus, Trinity and Xavier International on Thursday booked their berths in the semifinals of the Ninth Prime Cup Basketball Championship in the boys´ category. Rikky Dangol´s 14 points guided defending champion Prime to a 58-37 win over Premier. National thrashed Golden Gate 57-30 with 24 points from Bikash Gurung.
In the third match of the day, Trinity registered a narrow-margin victory over Pentagon with the score of 58-55. Krishna Man Maharjan was the highest scorer with 19 points. Xavier International beat Morgan 55-41. Roshan Sherchan scored 28 points for the winning team.
Mt Glory, Prithvi win
KATHMANDU: Mount Glory and Prithvi School on Thursday won their respective matches in the Fourth Odyssey Inter-school Junior and Senior Basketball Tournament in the boys´ category. Mount Glory beat Kathmandu English School 30-15. Ashish Lele scored 13 points for the winning team. Susan Thapa´s 12 points guided Prithvi to a 24-15 victory over Celebration.
In the other matches of the junior boys´ category, New Zenith, Galaxy and VS Niketan registered victories. In the girls´ 3x3, Mahendra Bhawan routed Siddhartha Vanasthali 14-8, Angels´ Heart A hammered Arunodaya 11-3, Galaxy edged past Angels´ Heart B 8-6 and Bal Mandir beat Cambridge 4-1.
Bharati, Maharjan victorious
KATHMANDU: Devendra Bharati and Ram Krishna Maharjan´s pair on Thursday defeated Babu Raja Maharjan and Subin Maharjan´s pair 21-23, 21-9, 21-13 in the preliminary round of the Yala Cup Badminton Tournament being held in the capital. Likewise, Rabin Joshi teamed up with Ram Gopal Maharjan to beat the pair of Anish Bajracharya and Manish Bajracharya 21-15, 21-11, Sanjay Maharjan and Sanu Babu Maharjan´s pair overcame Khem Shakya and Suresh Shakya´s team 13-21, 21-19, 21-19.
In other matches, the pairs of Lalit Maharjan and Bijay Maharjan, Himal Tamrakar and Naresh Tamrakar, Kishor Byanjankar and Birendra Shrestha, Suraj Maharjan and Purna Maharjan, and Bidur Rajkarnikar and Surendra Tamrakar emerged victorious.
Butwal United into final
BUTWAL: Butwal United has set up a title clash with Gorkha Boys in the Madan Bhandari Gold Cup Football defeating Intersports 3-1 in tie-breaker on Thursday. The match was decided through penalty shootout after the regular and extra time ended in 1-1 draw.
Jumbo Thery gave the lead to Butwal United through penalty nine minutes into the game. Naresh KC then leveled the scores in the 68th minute. Mahesh Aslami, Sabindra Shrestha and Niraj Magar scored for Butwal in the penalty shootout while Laxman Ruchal scored for the losing team.
Sports Festival kicks off in Chitwan
CHITWAN: Rupesh Shrestha won the bicycle race in the Sports Festival that kicked off in Chitwan on Thursday. Shrestha completed the 12-km race ahead of Kir Man Kumal. Sujan Bhandari of Bharatpur finished third. Shrestha bagged Rs 15,000 while the second and third position holders received Rs 10,000 and Rs 6,000 respectively.
In the women´s volleyball tournament, Chitwan Girls Sports Club registered a 25-20, 25-18 victory over Chitwan Sports Club to qualify for the second round. Altogether 15 sports have been included in the festival.
PM to be conferred ninth dan
KATHMANDU: National Taekwondo Union (NTU) on Thursday announced to confer honorary ninth dan on Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. Sitkar Rajbhandari, the coordinator of the NTU, made such announcement during a press conference organized on Thursday. Jay K Sin, the ninth dan chief master from South Korea, will present PM Bhattarai with the dan.
NTU is also scheduled to honor Minister for Youth and Sports Kamala Rokka, National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama and Constituent Assembly member Chandra Bahadur Thapa with honorary dan. According to General Secretary Ram Bahadur Karki, the union will also host an international taekwondo tournament in 2013.
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