Deepak Bista and Ayasha Shakya won golds in taekwondo, Aang Babu Lama in wushu, and Binod Shakya and Ganga Adhikari in karate. [break]
Emotional Deepak Bista makes SAG history
As he outclassed Bhutanese player Tashi with a score of 17-9 in the final during the 11th South Asian Games here on Monday, he asked for a Nepali flag from the audience and moved around the taekwondo ring.
He then hugged his Korean coach, Kwon Yeongdal, and ran towards the audience. He hugged some of his friends and seniors and reached Nepal´s chief taekwando coach, Deep Raj Gurung. He then burst into tears in Gurung´s arms. [break]
Deepak Bista, who has now competed in four consecutive regional games, had just become the most successful South Asian athlete, winning four gold medals for the country.
“I want to dedicate this victory to all Nepalis,” Deepak said, sharing his joy and glory with the press. “People had great expectations of me at the Beijing Olympics but I had an upset. From this victory now, I might have given them some relief,” he said.
After his win, Deepak remembered veteran Nepali marathoner Baikuntha Manandhar. “I have succeed in walking the path that Baikuntha Dai once led,” said Deepak, who felt humbled by victory.
Deepak was limping. He had picked up a chronic injury to his leg during the Ninth South Asian Games and the injury was once again haunting him.
“Many of my friends were suggesting to me not to play in this tournament. However, I took a risk and succeed. This is the happiest day in my life,” Deepak said analyzing his victory.
He thanked his parents for their support. “Probably they have brought me up in a very good way and that has led me to all the success,” Deepak said, expressing his emotion.
The 33-year-old from Kailali only hinted that he would continue his playing career. “I can´t say now that I will play further tournaments. I´ll consult doctors and see if my injured leg will help or not,” he answered to a question about participating in the upcoming Asian Games.
Sri Lankan swimmer Julian Boolie won 7 gold medals in the regional sports extravaganza. However, she has participated only in three South Asian Games.
Earlier, Nepal´s Baikuntha Manandhar had won 3 consecutive gold medals in marathon in the first three editions of SAG.
Deepak, who used to participate in the men´s under-79 kg weight category, contested in the under-87 kg category this time.
To achieve his fourth consecutive victory in SAG, Deepak defeated 10th SAG gold medalist in the weight category Mohammad Mizanur Rahman of Bangladesh in the quarterfinal, 10-1. Likewise, he outclassed Nakul Malhotra of India 6-1 in the semifinal.
Deepak had played in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 after claiming a bronze medal in the qualifying tournament held in Vietnam. He is the second Nepali athlete to qualify for the Olympics after Sangina Baidya in the same discipline, taekwondo.
Deepak had won two consecutive bronze medals in the 14th and 15th editions of the Asian Games.
Ayasha wins gold, Manita restricted to silver
Ayasha Shakya broke from her upsets of the 10th South Asian Games during the 11th SAG here in Dhaka on Monday, winning the taekwando gold medal in the women´s under-53kg weight category.
Ayasha, who was restricted to silver in Colombo, was unstoppable in Dhaka.
She defeated Madiha Mazhar of Pakistan in the first round with a score of 8-7 and she was impressive in the semifinal round against Gayathri Sandamali of Sri Lanka. Ayasha won the semifinal with a score of 7-3. In the final, Ayasha defeated Latika Bhandari of India, 5-1 and realized her dream of winning a gold.
Ayasha, who had also won a bronze in the 15th Asian Games, said her labors and the support she had as well as the faith the Nepali people reposed in her gave her success.
“In Colombo I had lost the final against an Indian player and there was an Indian player this time also. I was a bit nervous but succeeded in winning the gold,” Ayasha explained about her final match.
The 22-year-old from Patan dedicated her victory to her family and the Nepali people. “I have no words to explain my joy,” said an elated Ayasha.
Meanwhile, 10th SAG gold medalist Manita Shahi lost the final match against Sri Lankan Fathima Keshia Suhail 4-8 in the women´s under-57 kg category. Manita, who got byes in the quarterfinal, defeated Sharabini Biswas of Bangladesh in the semifinal, 9-4.
“I think I had played better but ... the referee´s decision was biased,” said Manita.
Meanwhile, Badri Nath Basnet lost his first round match against Raviendra Rajapaksha of Sri Lanka in men´s over-87 kg weight category.
Korean coach of the Nepali taekwando team, Kwon Yeongdal, said he had expected two more gold medals but could not succeed there. “The new players could not play as I instructed them while experienced players like Manita lost the final though they played better,” Kwon said.
Nepal won 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in taekwando during the 11th SAG.
Aang Babu bags gold with record
Aang Babu Lama won gold in wushu under the thaulo taichi chhwan event during the 11th South Asian Games on Monday.
Aang Babu scored total 19.80 points in the thaulo event held in Cylhet, a city 300 km from Dhaka. Aang Babu´s score is a new record in the South Asian Games. Indian Madun Moring scored 18.77 to claim silver in the event.
However, Raju Maharjan remained in the fourth position in nan chwan of the thaulo event.
With completion of all wushu events, Nepal has won 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.
Binod, Ganga add gold to karate glory
Karetakas Binod Shakya and Ganga Adhikari won gold medals in kumitte (fight) during the 11th South Asian Games fixtures at the Soharawardy Indoor Stadium in Dhaka, Monday.
10th SAG bronze medalist Binod won the gold in the men´s U-75 kg kumitte defeating Sri Lankan Mohammed Nifaz in the final. Binod won the final with the score 7-4.
Earlier, Binod outclassed Ainud In of Pakistan in the first round before easing past Afghani Sayed Ahmed in the semi-finals.
"I am happy that my labor turned into color," said Binod after the victory. "If you keep on working hard, you will find success. My success proves that," added the victorious player.
In the women´s U-61 kg kumitte, Ganga thrashed Zainab of Afghanistan 5-1 in the final to claim gold in her first international tournament. Ganga earlier defeated Gulsoon of Pakistan in the first round and Reavathi of India in the semifinals.
However, 10th SAG gold medalist Kushal Shrestha could not defend his title in men´s 67 kg kumitte here on Monday. Kushal suffered a humiliating 0-8 loss against Sadi Abbas of Pakistan in the first round. However, he succeeded in claiming a bronze with a narrow win over Mohammad Sujon of Bangladesh in repercharge.
Binod Maharjan claimed silver in men´s U-60 kg kumitte. Maharjan, who received byes in the first round, defeated Nasir of Pakistan in the semifinals 8-1. However, he lost against Mohammad Tamim of Afghanistan 7-8 in the final.
With the completion of all karate events, Nepal has won 3 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in the games.
Women footballers lose gold, blame referee
Nepali women footballers were restricted from creating history after India defeated them 3-1 in the final during the 11th South Asian Games, thanks to a farcical situation created by referees.
After the early exit of Nepali men´s team from the Games due to the referees´ bias, the women´s team also suffered a similar fate in the final match played at the Kamalapur Stadium, Dhaka. The men´s team had lost to Maldives as the referee awarded two controversial penalties against Nepal.
India, who defeated Nepal 5-0 in round robin match, put Nepali women under pressure on Monday. However, Nepali defense line up -- Bhagawati Thapa, Deepa Chhetri, Niru Thapa and Tulasha Singh -- repulsed their attacks one after another.
In reply, Nepal created the first attacking move in the 25th minute and forward Jamuna Gurung scored in a cross from Laxmi Paudel.
Nepal managed the lead till the end of the first half which boosted up the girls´ morale.
In the second half, Nepal´s hope of winning the first ever gold in women´s football was, however, shattered.
In the 52nd minute, referees started giving farcical decisions. Malaysian referee Rita Bintigani awarded penalty against Nepal as defender Deepa and Indian Tababi Devi vied for the ball in the box.
However, assistant referee Fang Yang from China had ruled it offside before the referee awarded the penalty. The referee, however, remained firm in her decision and Indian captain Oinam Bembem Devi scored from the spot.
The assistant referee ruled out the penalty and stayed firm in her decision. The referee and the assistant referee discussed for a few minutes and Nepali players also protested the referee´s decision. The referee canceled the penalty but Indian players protested. She could not handle the Indian pressure and again awarded the penalty against Nepal.
It was then Nepali women´s turn to stage a protest. They sat on the ground for more than 25 minutes. At the end, Nepali team manager Sanjeeb Mishra ordered his players to resume the game. The Indian captain converted the penalty.
After the equalizer, India took away the game from Nepal and added two more goals against the infuriated Nepali women. Tababi Devi scored the second goal in the 72nd minute while Amoolya Jayaram added the third in the 82nd minute.
Nepali defender Bhagawati was rushed to hospital after she was injured while Laxmi and Binita Shrestha were booked in the tense match.
The tension mounted even after the completion of the match. The referee added only five minutes of injury time though the match was interrupted for more than 25 minutes.
After the final whistle, Nepali team manager Mishra ran to complain the matter to the referee but the women players ran behind him and tried to manhandle the referee. It took almost 10 minutes for Bangladesh Police to take the situation under control.
After the match, team manager Mishra immediately registered official protest to Bangladesh Football Association, match commissioner, tournament organizing committee and Asian Football Confederation on Monday.
Women´s football is included for the first time in SAG.
Boxing
Nepali boxer Ajit Gurung was restricted to silver in the light weight (60 kg) category during the 11th South Asian Games.
Bangladeshi boxer Mohammad Jewel Ahmed Jony defeated Ajit 32-17 in the final bout played at Mohammad Ali Boxing Stadium in Dhaka, Monday.
Earlier, Laxman Saud was restricted to bronze in fly-weight (51 kg) category.
Table Tennis
Muna Basukala clinched two bronze medals in individual table tennis events here at the 11th South Asian Games, Monday.
Madhunika Patkar of India restricted Muna to a bronze medal, defeating her in the semifinal of the women´s singles. Muna lost to Madhunika 5-11, 6-11, 9-11, 8-11 in straight sets.
With the bronze, Muna became the first Nepali to win a medal in a table tennis singles event after 19 years. Sijarin Shah had played semifinals in the fifth SAF Games in 1991.
Muna, participating for the fourth time in SAG, entered the semifinals after defeating Sonam Sultana Soma of Bangladesh in pre-quarterfinals and Sri Lankan Ishara Madurangi Darshik in quarterfinals.
Muna also teamed up with veteran Gita Thapa Magar to win the women´s doubles bronze medal. The Nepali pair lost the semifinal 12-14, 8-11, 4-11. The men´s team had already fetched Nepal a bronze medal in Dhaka.
Archery
Nepali men´s team won the bronze medal in the archery team event during the 11th South Asian Games on Monday.
The team of Ashim Sherchan, Prem Prasad Moktan and Ramesh Bhattachan scored 196 points to win the bronze medal decider against Bhutan. The Bhutani team scored only 143.
Athletics
Nepal´s medal hopes from athletics now rest on the marathon as they failed in all the other athletics events. Arjun Kumar Basnet and Rajendra Bhandari will run the long distance on Tuesday.
Arjun was silver medalist in the 10th SAG in Colombo while Rajendra had won two gold medals in the 5,000-meter race and 3,000-meter steeplechase there. However, Rajendra´s medals were later scrapped as he was found guilty of doping.
Rajendra is returning to the international arena for the first time after serving a two-year ban following that incident.
Bal Krishna Chaudhary produced the best result among Nepali athletes on Monday as nobody performed well.
Bal Krishna Chaudhary remained in fourth position in men´s high-jump. Bal Krishna leaped 1.95 meters at Bangabandhu Stadium.
In rest of the athletics events that concluded on Tuesday - men´s 5,000 meters, 100 meters, women´s 100 meters and 400 meters - Nepali athletes remained at the bottom of the table.
Swimming
The poor performance of Nepali swimmers continued on Monday. Sailesh Rana remained in the 8th position (last) in men´s 50 meters breaststroke. He completed the swim in 34.16 seconds. Arjun Jaya Prakash of India won the gold with the timing of 30.04 seconds.
Likewise, Nepali team of Shaila Rana, Bibidha Rimal, Oshin Bharati and Karishma karki remained in the fifth and last position in women´s 100 meters medley relay. Nepali women´s clocked 5 minute 33.93 seconds while gold winner Indian team finished it in 4 minutes 41.55 seconds.
Gold medal winners in 11th SAG
1. Binita Maharjan -----Taiji Quan of Wushu
2. Sunil Lama------------Kumite of Karate, Under-55kg
3. Ang Babu Lama------Taiji Quan of Wushu
4. Deepak Bista----------Taekwondo, 87 kg
5. Ayesha Shakya------- Taekwondo, 53 kg
6. Ganga Adhikari--------Karate, 61 kg
7. Binod Shakya----------Karate, 75 kg
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