Before that, no other Nepali athlete had achieved victory in the games underway at Nanjing, China.[break]
Khatri defeated Dina Besisso of Jordan in the first round of the women’s 52-62 kg bout of judo at the Lanjiang Gymnasium. She was declared the winner 2 minutes 3 seconds into the game after she immobilized her opponent for 15 seconds, forcing the Jordanian to lie flat on the mat. She earned two points and emerged victorious.
However, her victory was short-lived as she lost in the second round match and crashed out of the event. She was defeated by Mongolia’s Khongojul Battulla who applied a choking technique. Though Khatri made an aggressive start, she could not resist Battulla’s simewaja (lock to the opponent´s neck). Khatri was defeated after1 minute 48 seconds in the four-minute bout.
However Khatri, the winner of Asian Junior Judo Championship, expressed satisfaction over her performance. “I gave my best in such a big competition. And I’m happy with what I achieved,” she said.
Earlier, Him Parwa Khatri of judo, Manita Chitrakar and Mani Kumar Lama of table tennis and Aslesha Lissanevitch and Avishek Bastola of tennis were defeated in the first round matches in their respective events. But more successes followed after Khatri broke the ice.
Another Nepali athlete Nitesh Paudel succeeded in reaching the second round in fencing while teenage swimming sensation Shirish Gurung set a new national record at the Nanjing Olympic Center.
Gurung clocked 2 minutes 12.42 seconds in the men’s 200m freestyle to break his own national record of 2 minutes 13.84 seconds.
In the course of setting the new national record, Gurung finished ahead of Khaled Alsamsi of the United Arab Emirates and Ayaha Mohammad Khan of Pakistan in the 200m round. He was trailing at first but overtook the two opponents in the final lap for a respectable finish at the event.
Meanwhile, Nitish Paudel made it to the second round of fencing. Competing alongside 25 participants, he was able to cross the first hurdle after garnering adequate points required to reach the knockout stage. However, his fairytale run came to an end soon as he lost 15-4 against Al Dosari Mohammad of Qatar in the second round.
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