Players and officials during march-past in the opening ceremony of the eighth National Games at the Nepalgunj Stadium in Banke on Thursday, April 18, 2019. Photo: Udipt Singh/THT
Nepalgunj, April 18
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the eighth National Games amidst a glittering opening ceremony here at the Nepalgunj Stadium today.
President Bhandari said she was honoured to get the chance to inaugurate the National Games for the second time. She had opened the seventh National Games in Eastern Region two years ago. Addressing the gathering at the stadium, President Bhandari urged all sectors to join hands for the development of sports and athletes.
Chief Minister of Province-5 Shankar Paudel said the National Games was an opportunity for all the people to connect with each other. Minister for Youth and Sports Jagat Bahadur Sunar hoisted the National Games flag, while National Sports Council Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista thanked Provinve-5 and all the stakeholders for making the Games possible within two years of the seventh edition on behalf of the organisers.
Olympian Surendra Hamal lit the Olympic flame after 13 Olympians took part in the torch rally inside the stadium. Youth Olympian judoka Sonu Bhatta and weightlifting judge Samsuddin Siddiqui took the oath on behalf of athletes and referees.
The opening ceremony was held in evening for the first time in the history of the Games and it ended with fireworks. The NSC had organised opening ceremony in day time in previous editions and the fireworks were also displayed for the first time. Various artists, groups, clubs and organisations performed cultural shows, while players and officials from all 11 participating teams took part in march-pass in the opening ceremony that lasted for nearly
two hours.
A total of 5,211 athletes — 2.825 men and 2,386 women — are taking part in the Games that feature 35 sports disciplines. Players from 11 teams — one each from seven provinces and Tribhuvan Army Club, Nepal APF Club and Nepal Police Club, and Non-Resident Nepali Association — are participating in the Games that began on April 10. Before the opening ceremony, a total of 15 sports disciplines had already completed their tournaments, while the closing ceremony is slated for April 24.
The players are fighting for a total of 372 each gold and silver medals and 563 bronze medals. Each gold medal winner in individual event will get Rs 15,000, while the winners in team event will receive Rs 7,000. Likewise, each national record will earn athletes Rs 25,000.
Badminton
Ratnajit Tamang of Tribhuvan Army Club, Prince Dahal of Province-1, Bikash Shrestha and Dipesh Dhami of Farwest advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals of the 40th National Badminton Tournament in Ghorahi, Dang.
Defending champion Ratnajit Tamang defeated Jeevan Acharya of Nepal Police Club 21-10, 21-11, and while Dahal beat Praful Maharjan of TAC 21-10, 21-10. Dahal will now face Tamang for a place in the final. Likewise, former Nepal No 1 Bikash Shrestha defeated TAC shuttler Nabin Shrestha 21-15, 15-21, 21-16 to set the semi-final date with Dipesh Dhami, who registered a 21-17, 21-15 victory over Deepak Bohara of Nepal Police Club.
In women’s section, Sita Rai of Province-1 upset Shova Gauchan of Tribhuvan Army Club to make it to the last four. The Nepal No 11 shuttler Rai registered a 21-17, 21-15 victory over the third ranked player Gauchan, who won gold medal in the Pakistan International Series and bagged silver in Nepal International Series. Rai will face defending champion Nangsal Devi Tamag for a place in the final. Tamang defeated fellow TAC shuttler Ranjana Bhatta 21-18, 21-12. Likewise, TAC’s Anu Maya Rai defeated Jessica Gurung of APF 21-16, 21-9, while Rashila Maharjan of TAC registered a 21-14, 21-11 victory over Sima Rajbanshi of Province-1.
In women’s doubles, Nangsal Devi Tamang and Anu Maya Rai of TAC advanced to the semi-finals along with Amita Giri and Rashila Maharjan (TAC), Sita Rai and Sima Rajbanshi (Provine-1), and Pooja Shrestha and Jessica Gurung (APF).
Athletics
Chandrakala Lamgade of Nepal Police Club broke the national record in women’s shot put on the first day of the National Athletics Championship at the Beljhundi Stadium in Dang. Lamgade covered the distance of 12.04 metres to set the new record bettering her own mark of 11.56 set during the national team selection in Kathmandu last year. Sangita Adhikari of Province-5 won silver with 10.56m, while Basanti Chaudhary of APF came third with 10.05.
In men’s section, TAC’s Tek Prasad Dahal won gold with the distance of 12.19 metres, while Puskal Khadka (12.04m) of NPC and Chitra Bahadur Oli (11.85m) of TAC came second and third respectively.
Nepal APF Club athlete Ashish Chaudhary and Tribhuvan Army Club’s Saraswoti Chaudhary won the 100m gold medals. Ashish finished the race in 11 seconds, finishing ahead of Yam Sajan Sunar of Karnali Province after the defending champion and national record holder came home in 11.10 seconds. Sunar holds the national record of 11.03 seconds. Ananda Dev Chaudhary came third in 11.15 seconds. In women’s section, Saraswoti Chaudhary took 12.19 seconds to win the gold medal, while Jayarani Chaudhary (12.39) of Province-5 and Krishna Chaudhary (12.52) of TAC bagged silver and bronze respectively.
Durga Buda of Karnali Province won the men’s 10,000 metre gold medal with the timing of 31 minutes and 03.06 seconds. Anish Thapa of Province-4 came second in 31:09.71, while national record holder Gopi Chanda Parki of APF was third in 31:58.3. Parki holds the national record of 30:30.09 set during the Incheon Asian Games in 2014.
TAC athlete Bishwo Rupa Buda won the 10,000m gold in 37 minutes and 30.89 seconds, while NPC’s Rajpura Pachhai came second in 37:30.92 and Santoshi Shrestha of Province-3 was third in 37:50.53.
Handball
Tribhuvan Army Club registered a 42-17 victory over Province-5 in the opening day match of the National Handball Tournament in Nepalgunj. In another match, Gandaki beat Karnali 40-15. In the women’s section matches, TAC recorded a 33-4 win against Provine-3, while Province-5 beat Karnali 10-7.
Hockey
Farwest Province won the title of the women’s hockey tournament in Nepalgunj. Farwest defeated Gandaki Province 1-0 in the final match. Damara Bhatta scored the solitary goal of the match. Tribhuvan Army Club finished third with a 5-0 victory over Province-2. Sita Chaudhary scored two goals, while Pinky Sinjali, Anjana Thakuri and Amrita Basnet netted one each for the departmental side.
Boxing
Tribhuvan Army Club won the team championship of the National Boxing Tournament that concluded yesterday in Khajura.
TAC finished first with nine gold, five silver and two bronze medals, while Nepal APF Club came second with four gold, five silver and three bronze medals. Another departmental side, Nepal Police Club were third with one gold and two silver medals.
Manohar Basnet of Karnali Provine and Sushmita Gurung of Province-3 were declared the best players of the tournament.
On the final day, Prakash Limbu of APF won the 60kg section gold beating Ek Bahadur Ghale, while Bhupendra Thapa Magar of NPC defeated Dan Bahadur Darlami in the 64kg final. Bikash Lama of APF claimed the 69kg weight category gold defeating Manish Dangol of Province-3, whereas Deepak Shrestha of TAC beat Diwas Lal Bhumi of Province-3 in the 55kg final.
Manohar Basnet outplayed Ganesh Pradhan of TAC in the 81kg weight category final, while TAC boxer Arjun Sigu beat Gokul Gurung on APF to win the 91kg section gold medal.
In women’s section, Chandrakala Thala of TAC defeated Diya Limbu of Province-1 in the 57kg final, while Sangita Sunar of APF beat Sabina Shrestha of TAC in the 60kg section final.
from The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2Xri0pe
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