By the end of the second day on Monday, Armed Police Force (APF) and Nepal Police Club (NPC) secured three gold medals each out of the total seven golds. PLA Club of Maoist combatants claimed the other gold.[break]
Siddhant Adhikari of NPC outsprinted his opponents in the opening race of men´s 1,500 m to clinch gold with a timing of 4 minutes 3:20 seconds. Laxman Malla Thakuri of APF was 11 seconds late and settled for silver clocking 4:14:20 minutes. Asha Narayan Chaudhary of APF took bronze with a timing of 4:14:70 minutes.
Arjun Prasad Dhakal of APF won gold in men´s 10,000 m race in the opening race of athletics. Dhakal clocked 32 minutes 41:08 seconds to take the top spot. Bhumi Raj Rai of NPC finished second with a timing of 33:12:03 minutes while Bikash Deshar of APF secured the third position clocking 33:30:03 minutes.
In the women´s 1,500 m race, Brinda Shrestha Deshar of APF won gold clocking 5 minutes 5 seconds. Laxmi Pandey of Western Region and Gita Khatri of APF finished second and third respectively. Pandey clocked 5:09:70 minutes while Khatri finished with a timing of 5:12:30 minutes.
Keshari Chaudhary of NPC jumped 1.43 m to win gold in women´s high jump. Prabha Chaudhary of Western Region won silver with a jump of 1.40 m while Shila Chaudhary of APF finished third scaling 1.35 m.
Likewise, Bal Krishna Chaudhary of APF won gold in men´s high jump scaling a height of 1.75 m. Dhirendra Chaudhary of NPC finished second with a jump of 1.73 m while Khem Raj Chaudhary of Central Region jumped 1.61 m to finish third.
Sita Shahi of PLA Club won gold in women´s javelin throw covering a distance of 34.93 m. Amrita Mahato of APF clinched silver with a distance of 32.83 m while Anju Chaudhary of Eastern Region claimed bronze covering a distance of 32.17 m.
In men´s javelin throw, Narendra Jung Shahi of NPC won gold covering a distance of 56.90 m. Bal Krishna Chaudhary (52.45 m) of APF and Ishwar Shrestha (51.93 m) finished second and third respectively.
Badminton
APF won gold medal in both the men´s and women´s team events of badminton on Monday. NPC secured silver in the men´s team event while Western Region bagged silver in the women´s team event.
Judo
NPC dominated the opening matches of judo, winning three of the six gold medals on Monday. Sarita Chaudhary, Sushila Adhikari and Indira Rai won a gold each for NPC in the women´s category.
In the men´s section, 11th South Asian Games bronze medalist Deepak Krishna Shrestha secured a gold for Central Region. Shrestha defeated Laxman Thapa Magar of NPC in the final match of men´s U-81 kg. Dilli Shiwakoti of Eastern Region and Gopal BK of Far-western Region finished third.
The home crowd also had something to cheer for as Mohan Bam won gold for Far-western Region in men´s U-50 kg at Dhangadhi´s Aishwarya School -- the school where he had studied for 12 years. Rohan Thapa Magar of Mid-western Region finished second while Keshav Khadka of Eastern Region and Yuvaraj Sahu of Mid-western Region were joint third.
Likewise, Raju Shrestha of Mid-western Region secured gold in men´s U-100 kg defeating Rajan Ojha of Far-western Region in the final match.
Meanwhile, NPC´s Chaudhary beat Sushmita Lawat of Mid-western Region for gold in women´s U-44 kg. Gita Thapa of Mid-western Region and Archana Shrestha of Western Region took bronze medals.
Indira Rai won gold in women´s U-70 kg beating Srijana Napit of Western Region in the final. Sushila Adhikari won gold after another finalist Pramila Roka of Mid-western Region could not compete due to injury.
Soft tennis
Central Region won gold medal in the women´s team event of soft tennis defeating Far-western Region 2-0 in the final on Monday. The winning team comprises Niru Kayastha, Eliza Ranjit, Chandra Rai and Uttara Manandhar.
In the men´s team event, Mid-western Region and NPC were tied at 1-1 when the match was postponed due to bad light.
Volleyball
Nepal Police Club was off to an easy start in women´s volleyball as it cruised past Far-western Region in straight sets in the league round held on Monday. The star-studded NPC, which also comprised national players Neeta Shahi and Chuda Khadka, had little problem dispatching the home team 25-8, 25-11, 25-6.
In the second match of the day, Western Region recovered after conceding the second set to beat Central Region 25-12, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19.
Western Region lost one of its key players Pariksha Gurung due to injury in the first set. Gurung´s right hand got cut by the mat and she was taken to the hospital where she received four stitches.
Powerful shots from Ramila Tandukar helped Central Region register a hard-fought win over Western Region led by Manju Gurung.
However, defending champion Western Region fought back to win the remaining sets.
Despite the defeat, 13-year-old Salina Shrestha of Central Region was applauded by the crowd for being the smallest volleyball player to compete in the national event.
"She wouldn´t have been here if she was not worthy of it. She was chosen for the National Games through competitive selection and she has showed her potential in front of all of us," said Shrestha´s coach, who interestingly shares the same name -- Salina Shrestha.
In other matches, APF defeated PLA 25-18, 25-8, 25-9 while Mid-western Region registered a hard-fought win over Eastern Region with a score of 19-25, 27-25, 26-24, 25-8.
Handball
Western Region defeated Eastern Region 30-16 in the opening match of handball on Monday. Chandra KV was the top scorer for the winning team with seven goals.
In another match, Prabin Ojha´s seven goals guided Far-western Region to a 26-11 win over Mid-western Region.
APF defeated NPC 20-11 in the last match of the day. Yog Bahadur Darlami of NPC was the highest scorer with eight goals.
Karate
PLA Sports Club and Central Region won two golds each in karate on Monday.
Anu Adhikari of PLA won gold in women´s 50 kg kumite. Adhikari, a silver medalist at the 11th South Asian Games, defeated Roshani Khadka of Nepal Police Club 8-0 in the final.
Likewise, Bimala Tamang of PLA won gold in women´s single kata. Chanchal Danuwar of Nepal Police claimed silver while Sushmita Niraula of Eastern Region and Subhadra Shrestha of Central Region secured bronze medals.
Parshuram Bastola of Central Region took gold in men´s single kata while Ganesh Bahadur Thing of NPC had to be content with a silver medal. Ashish Magar of Eastern Region and Deepak BK of Mid-western Region claimed bronze medals in the event.
Central Region also won gold in women´s team kata. Eastern Region claimed silver while Mid-western and PLA took home bronze medals.
Nepal Police Club clinched gold medal in men´s team kata, while Far-western claimed silver.
Football
Nepal Police Club entered the semifinals of men´s football at the Sixth National Games defeating Central Region 2-1 on Monday. Subin Ghimire gave the lead to Central Region in the 67th minute but Pradeep Baniya scored the equalizer in the 83rd minute. Dinesh Gurung then sealed the victory for Police in the 88th minute.
Meanwhile, APF thrashed Western Region 4-0 as Santosh Shrestha scored two goals for the winning side. Kobit Karki, Top Bahadur Bista added a goal each for APF.
The match between Eastern Region and PLA Sports Club ended in a 1-1 draw. Prakash Budhathoki gave the lead to Eastern Region in the fourth minute while Suraj Gurung leveled the score in the 15th minute.
Boxing
Raj Kumar Maharjan of Central Region and Laxman Saud of Far-western Region advanced into the semifinals of boxing in men´s 49 kg weight category. Maharjan defeated Prakash Shrestha of PLA and Saud defeated Krishna Pratap Sen of Western Region.
In men´s 52 kg, Keshav Gurung of Mid-western Region, Narendra Deshar of Central Region and Sudesh Manandhar of Nepal Police Club reached the last four. Kabindra Maharjan of APF, Arjun Basnet of Mid-western Region, Surendra Kathayat of Nepal Police Club and Dhan Kumari Mainali of PLA entered the semifinals of men´s 56 kg weight category.
Meanwhile, Suman Lama of Police, Surendra Karki (Central Region), Rojen Karki (Eastern Region) and Purna Bahadur Lama (APF) reached the semifinals of men´s 60 kg. All the semifinalists secured at least a bronze each.
Women´s kabaddi
The host Far-western Region and Nepal Police Club won their respective matches on Monday in women´s kabaddi. Far-western defeated Eastern Region 50-24 in the first match played at the Dhangadhi Stadium. Likewise, Nepal Police Club thrashed Western Region 63-9 in the second match.
Basketball
The University teams on Monday advanced into the semifinals of basketball in both men´s and women´s categories. The University team defeated Far-western Region 87-46 in the men´s section with 18 points from Surwar Rajopadhya. Utsav Chand of Far-western Region was the top scorer with 20 points.
In another match of the men´s section, Eastern Region beat Mid-western Region 90-24 riding on 26 points from Heman Rai.
In the women´s section, the University team beat Eastern Region 24-18. Western Region also made it to the semifinals defeating Central Region 39-32.
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