Tough fight for the Youth PoY

KATHMANDU, JUN 29 -

It is an undeniable fact that the future of the country’s sports is dependent upon its youth athletes. The young athletes of now are presumably the stars of tomorrow.

Viewing the performance of these young athletes in different national and international tournaments, five potential youngsters have been short-listed in the annual Pulsar Sports Award in the Youth Player of the Year category.

The selection committee of the esteemed sports award, organised annually by Nepal Sports Journalists Forum, has selected Chahana Bomjan Lama of wushu, cricketer Aakash Bista, Sirish Gurung of swimming, footballer Niru Thapa of football and shuttler Ratnajeet Tamang in the final nomination.

Only time will reveal who will walk away with the award as all of them have fair chance to claim it if their performances in their particular sport is revised. The only sure thing now: competition will be intense.

Though Chahana, being the only athlete to win medals in an international tournament, will be going as the frontrunner for claiming the award, she equally faces a tough challenge from other nominees. Chahana won bronze medal in the Fourth World Junior Wushu Championship after defeating her American opponent 2-1 in the Sansau category.

At the same time, Sirish’s, who had already earned a reputation of being a No. 1 swimmer in his young age, success in the domestic swimming scene is far from being small. Sirish broke six national records and amassed 32 gold medals in 2069. He created new national record in 1500m freestyle, surpassing Ongden Lama’s record that had stood for 28 years, in the Pramod Memorial Swimming Championship.

Akash won hearts and accolades with his spellbinding performance in the ACC U-16 Elite Cup in Malaysia where he was adjudged as the player of the tournament. Making his debut for Nepal, Akash not only made 109 runs from six games but also claimed 17 wickets.

Niru has emerged as a sensational hope for the women football. This mesmerising midfielder helped Nepal to finish as the runners-up in the second SAFF Women Championship, scoring two goals. She is an indispensable part of Nepal Police Club, who scored 15 goals including two hat-tricks in the Women Club Championship. She also scored eight goals when Police finished as the runners-up in the Ncell Cup.

Ratnajeet, hailing from Bhojpur, is a young sensation in Nepali badminton scene. He claimed the titles of the three major tournaments in men’s singles to earn the reputation of rising star.

School level special games fail to serve their purpose

KATHMANDU, JUN 28 -

Standing on the top podium, Daya Narayan Chaudhary could hardly hide his smile as his friends and teachers captured those moments on their cameras.

Chaudhary, representing Bhairahawa Bal Higher Secondary School, won a gold medal in the boys’400 metre race and a silver in long jump to emerge as one of the outstanding athletes at the 18th School Level Special Sports at the Dashrath stadium last week.

But his talent extends much beyond the running track. He was a key member of the Rupandehi cricket team that lifted that lifted the National Deaf Cricket Championship a few months back. Winning the championship, he confesses, was the happiest moment of his life.

“I showed all the photographs, newspaper clippings and trophies to all my family and friends,” Chaudhary, wearing an orange shirt of Rupandehi cricket team, explains in sign language, conveyed by his headmaster Khaga Raj Pandey.

Chaudhary comes from a poor family in Jwathi-6 of Nawalparasi district.  His father is the family’s sole bread winner who supports the family of 10 by tilling the rich people’s land in the farming season. He sells fruits and vegetables on a push cart during the off-season. His mother is a sickly graying housewife, crippled by the severe asthma.

But Chaudhary glosses over the gloomy picture, exuding confidence that he will one day change his family’s fortune by excelling in sports .

Having established himself as a key member of the deaf cricket team, the medium pacer and reliable middle order batsman says, “I want to emerge as a match-winning all rounder.”

Chaudhary is not alone at the school event to nurture dreams of turning around his family fortune.

Kopila Kumal won the girls’ 100m and 200m races only to return with bruised feet. She had swollen heels and ruptured her soles after running bare foot.

“My feet burns and my back aches,” 17-year-old Kumal bemoans, limping and gasping for breath.

“I did buy a pair of comfortable shoes before the tournament. But I gave them to my mother, and the ones I have now are really tight,” she says. It is Kumal’s second participation in the event; she won the girls’ 100m race last year.

Unlike Chaudhary, she has no plan of extending her sporting career. She has the other priority in life: to be an exemplary school teacher from her community.

“In our community, girls are rarely allowed to go to school,” says the 17-year-old, adding that he had joined school much later, at nine years of age in her native Gorkha.

Kumal, who represents the Dalit community, feels privileged to have overcome the social barrier and attended the school. She studies at Jeevan Jyoti Higher Secondary School.

“Now, I want to contribute and advocate for the girls’ education in our community by becoming a good school teacher,” declares a resolute Kumal, who was born with a spinal cord disability.   Her six-member family does not have a house and is taking shelter in an abandoned crumpling temporary house. Her father is a construction worker and mother is a farmer, tilling other’s land.

Despite being physically challenged, she has been supporting her family working as a domestic help since she was 11.

For her, lending hands to the family always takes precedence over the sporting career. “I don’t want to take any chance with my life because I cannot afford to do so,” she says.

While athletes like Kumal may have other priorities in life, the Special Sports Championship could have inculcate belief in many of the 302 participants-93 blind, 107 physically challenged and 102 deaf-that they have just as much potential as others.

But many observers are apprehensive about the event serving its true purpose, with hardly any encouragement for those athletes.

However, chief of the event organising committee Indra Bahadur Thing blames the conflict at the Paralympics Committee and the government apathy for the poor planning and organisation of the event.

According to him, the budget for the event has been reduced to Rs 120,000 from Rs 150,000.

“National Sports Council and sports associations should come up with programmes to promote special sports athletes,” Thing says

NASA, Whitehouse enter semis

NASA and Whitehouse boys’ teams entered the semi-finals of the first Morgan Inter-club basketball tournament after winning their respective matches on Sunday.

In the match played at the Dashrath Stadium covered hall, NASA outplayed Goldengate 89-77. NASA recovered from a first quarter loss as Joel spurred them with match highest 31 points. Goldengate also joined NASA in the semi-finals as runners-up.

In the other match, Whitehouse stunned Xavier’s 64-37 with Sarad Riberson’s scoring 23 points for the winners. Whitehouse and Gurukul booked their spot in last four.

In the girls category, Gurukul and Goldengate advanced to the semi-finals as Gurukul knocked out Saipal 41-28, thanks to Preeti Tulachan’s 10 points. Likewise, Bina Nakarmi’s 13 points helped Goldengate top the group as they beat Prime College 36-31. Despite the defeat, Prime too advanced to the next stage as group runners-up.

Shiva Ram three ahead after day 2

KATHMANDU, JUN 26 -

Defending champion Shiva Ram Shrestha carded a five-under 67 to finish three strokes ahead of Sanjay Lama  after the second round of the Surya Nepal Central Open, the third event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2013-14 at the Gokarna Golf Club on Tuesday.

The Nepal No 1 pro Shiva Ram from RNGC played a superb round for a 36-hole total of seven-under 137 while Army Club pro Sanjay played a round of one-under 71 for a total of four-under 140.

Overnight leader Ramesh Nagarkoti slipped to third at three-under 141 after the RNGC pro played one-over 73 on the day. Surya Prasad Sharma carded a one-under 71 to hold fourth place on the leaderboard, while Dharan pro Mani Rai and Ram Krishna Shrestha are a shot behind for the joint fifth place after playing three-under 69. In amateur section, Dinesh Prajapati took the lead after playing one-over 73 for a total score of three-over 147.

Rafael Nadal crashes out of Wimbledon in first round

Rafael Nadal was on the receiving end of a monumental Wimbledon upset for the second straight year on Monday, being dumped out of the tournament before its opening day was through.

Little known Belgian Steve Darcis was Nadal's conqueror on Court One, ripping through their clash in straight sets, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, and condemning the 12-time Grand Slam champion to his first-ever defeat in the first round of a major.

"Nobody was expecting this," Darcis said in a television interview. "Rafa did not play his best tennis today. I think if you start to focus on him it is tougher. I tried to focus on myself and what I had to do and I think I did great today."

Just two weeks removed from winning the French Open for a record eighth time, Nadal was brought crashing back down to earth as Darcis, ranked 135th in the world, clinched the first and second sets in tense tiebreakers, then broke early and held his nerve to secure the third.

The stunning events provided Day 1's most captivating storyline, and erased the possibility of a mouthwatering quarterfinal between Nadal and Roger Federer, the man he beat in one of Wimbledon's greatest ever matches – the 2008 final.

Nadal's seeding of No.5 was a result of his time off tour to fix injury issues and was criticized by former players such as John McEnroe as it put him, Federer and home favorite Andy Murray all in the same half of the draw.

Yet evidence is growing that either Nadal is no longer the same force on grass as the version that lifted the trophy in 2008 and 2010, or that people have worked out that he is not unstoppable on the surface.

Twelve months ago is was Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic who figured out the puzzle in a gripping five-set, second-round match that went deep into the evening on Center Court. Back then, Rosol played the match of his life, and Darcis produced the same here.

After the loss, Nadal was asked about how he felt physically – specifically his knee that forced him to sit out seven months – but said now isn't the time to talk about that.

"The only thing I can say today is to congratulate Steve Darcis," Nadal said.

Big serving, ferocious ground strokes and a smattering of luck was what was needed for the 29-year-old journeyman, who has only once reached the third round of a major event, to get the job done.

As with any upset, a lack of belief was the greatest obstacle to overcome. Darcis suffered a wobble when serving at 4-3 up in the third, but staved off a break point and clinched the game with a gutty serve-volley.

Nadal's pedigree speaks for itself, a player who is not only a superstar of his generation but one of the all-time greats and one of only a handful of men to win each of the majors.

But for all his experience, tenacity and supreme shot-making ability, Nadal, who was 34-0 in the first round of major tournaments heading into Monday's match, just didn't have an answer here. The tiebreakers could have gone either way but the third set break was Darcis' most telling blow.

A couple of sloppy forehands, struggles with the first serve, and the Belgian had the lead. His serve, just like Rosol's last year, was imperious, and Nadal, one of tennis' great returners, simply could not get into it.

Darcis wrapped it up with an ace, looked to the skies and sunk to his knee and with Wimbledon 2013 just hours old, its biggest shock was already in the books.

Nominations for four PoY categories released

KATHMANDU, JUN 26 -

National cricket captain Paras Khadka and swimming sensation Sirish Gurung are nominated in two categories for this year’s Pulsar Sports Award as Nepal Sports Journalist forum unveiled nominations of four award categories on Tuesday.

The nominees of the award categories announced on Tuesday are Player of the Year (PoY): male and female, youth PoY and coach of the year.

Khadka and Gurung who were already nominated in the Popular Player of the Year award, revealed on June 2, were also nominated in male player of the year and youth player award categories respectively.

 Meanwhile, awards in the lifetime achievement, special and best parathlete will be announced during the award ceremony-July 2- as these categories do not have nominees.

Along with Khadka, his teammate Basanta Regmi, Tilak Ram Tharu of Atheletics, Bharat Khawas of Football, and Sunil Lama of Karate are the other nominations vying for male PoY while Ganga Devi Adhikari of karate, Anu Lama and Jamuna Gurung- both from football- Jharana Gurung of wusu, Shreya Dhital of swimming have made into the nomination for female PoY. The other nominees for the youth PoY apart from Gurung are Chahana Bamjan of wusu, Aakash Bista of cricket, Niru Thapa of football and Rantajeet Tamang of badminton.

Pubudu Dassanayake, who had a successful year with senior cricket team,  made it into the nomination of coach of the year along with Yuvraj Gurung of wusu, Akhbar Shah of karate, Wangden Lama of swimming and Nara Bahadhur Shahi of athletics. 

Cricket-Embattled Australia ditch rotation policy for Ashes

Australia are shelving their controversial rotation policy for back-to-back Ashes campaigns that are in danger of falling into complete disarray barely two weeks prior to the opening test against England.

Described as "informed player management" by national selectorJohn Inverarity, the policy designed to safeguard key players from burn-out has drawn heavy criticism from the media and a number of former internationals.

Struggling for form and beset by disciplinary issues, rotating players is a luxury the team cannot afford and Cricket Australia(CA) chief executive James Sutherland confirmed that the strongest available side would be selected throughout the Ashes.

"...looking ahead to the Ashes series in England and next (southern hemisphere) summer in Australia, you won't see any of thatrotation policy, as you call it, in the fashion that we have in the past," Sutherland said on ABC radio.

"It's about providing opportunities to players for a team that's in transition, so the selectors can give players opportunities at international level and see how they cope with that and respond," he said.

"For well over a decade, the Australian selectors have adopted a policy of doing that, particularly with one-day cricket.

"I've got no doubt that will continue but for Ashes test matches, we will day-in, day-out be picking our best team."

The decision is likely to be welcomed by newly appointed coach Darren Lehmann, who has been critical of the policy in the past.

Australia sacked Mickey Arthur and replaced him with Lehmann on Monday, the South African paying the price for the team's string of poor performance, including a 4-0 test drubbing in India and the failure to win a single match in the Champions Trophy, where they were the defending champions.

Compounding Arthur's problem was a number of individual disciplinary issues, including David Warner's Twitter rant against journalists and the opener's attack on England cricketer Joe Root in a bar after a Champions Trophy defeat.

Australia play a four-day tour match against Somerset from Wednesday before the first test of the five-match Ashes series starts at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on July 10. (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by John O'Brien)

Image Channel lift Media Cup title

KATHMANDU, JUN 26 -

Image Channel won the Sixth Virgin Media Cup Football Tournament after thrashing defending champions Nepal Television 6-0 at Dasharath Stadium on Tuesday.

Sambandh Pradhan and Madhav Bhandari completed a brace each while Sunil Tamrakar and Pujan Shrestha scored a goal each for the Image.

With the win, Image also avenged the defeat they have suffered against Nepal Television in last year’s final.

The win bagged Image a cash prize of 50,000 while NTV had to be content with Rs 25,000.

Sambandh Pradhan of Image was adjudged player of the tournament while his teammate Pujan Shrestha walked away with the highest goal scorer award.

Retain Qualifier: CAN prez to request ICC

KATHMANDU, JUN 24 -

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) will appeal to the ICC not to scrap the World Cup Qualifier and instead urge the world cricket governing body to come out with more of similar programmes to help develop the cricket among the associate nations, at its Anuual General Meeting starting on Tuesday.

CAN President Tanka Angbuhang Limbu, before leaving for London on Sunday, told the Post, “We will urge ICC not to come under pressure from cricket giants and continue with programmes like the World Cup Qualifier which is very vital for the development of cricket for minnows like us.”

ICC has already announced that the World Cup Qualifier to be held in New Zealand in January will be the last one. The top two sides out of the 10 from the Qualifier will progress to the 2015 World Cup which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.

Limbu and General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal are attending the five-day meeting. CAN is also pushing for more support to construct infrastructure. “We have a lot more to do as far as infrastructure is concerned and we will try to attract ICC’s attention on this matter,” Limbu added.

Apart from submitting the financial report and CAN’s annual cricket calendar, Nepal will also attend the election to choose a new executive committee.

Limbu also revealed that he will request for a specialist batting and bowling coach to help Nepal prepare for the World Cup Qualifier.

Five in race for Player of the Year award

KATHMANDU, JUN 24 -

Paras Khadka, Jagjit Shrestha, Jharana Gurung, Keshari Chaudhary and Sirish Gurung are in the run for this year’s Pulsar Popular Player of the Year category. PoY is the only category in the annual Pulsar Sports Award event, where the winner will be chosen by the fans voting via sms and social networking site facebook.com.

The nominees are from different background and sports and the success achieved by them ranges from international cricket to domestic pool. It seems an effort to make the category inclusive.

Nepal cricket team captain Khadka has gained a huge popularity after he led his side to a historic World Cricket League Division III title. Khadka was also instrumental in guiding the team to the ACC Trophy. Besides that, Nepal’s promotion to Division II, ACC Trophy triumph in Malaysia and taking Nepal to the final of ACC Twenty20 cricket made him, arguably, the biggest sports star of the nation.

“Getting nominated in this category is itself an award,” said Khadka, who had stroked 106 runs off 77 balls against Kuwait in the ACC Trophy.

Jagjit Shrestha’s is one of the most uttered names by football fans in the country. The midfielder has found a niche for himself in the national team for the last two years. “My presence among the nominees at a time when the national team have not been able to achieve success has brought some excitement to Nepali football,” said Shrestha.

Jharana Gurung ended Nepal’s 18-year medal drought in wushu after bagging a bronze medal in the Eight Asian Wushu Championship in Vietnam. Jharana who hails from Pokhara said, “My nomination has got the entire city of Pokhara excited.”

Keshari Chaudhary, dubbed as the record girl of athletics, holds four national records in high jump, long jump, triple jump and 100m hurdles under her name. Chaudhary, who started grabbing attention since school-level tournament, has been breaking records for the last five years on a regular basis. Last year, she set records in all three events she had participated in.

The Nepal Police player is also a former cricketer but she opted for athletics.

Teen sensation Sirish Gurung’s list of gold medals and records in swimming are pretty long. He hogged the limelight in the Ninth Asian Swimming Championship, breaking four national records in the 1,500m freestyle with the timing of 19 minutes 48.16 seconds.

The 15-year-old prodigy had broken the national record set by Jay Prakash Gurung in 1984. He also broke the Ongden Lama’s decade-long record in the individual medley and 200m butterfly in the second NSA Cup.

Dhungana bags two gold medals on concluding day

Shyam Lal Dhungana of Laboratory School won two gold medal s in the final day of the School-level Special Sports Championship at Dashrath Stadium on Friday. His competitor Siddhanta Neupane of Narayani Higher Secondary, Chitwan had to be content with two bronze medals.  

Partially blind athlete, Dhungana bagged his first gold of the day in boys’ U-14 long jump, surpassing the leaps of Sushil Thapa Magar of Adarsha Higher Secondary, Bhaktapur and Neupane.

For his second gold Dhungana overpowered Jeewan Gurung of Amarsingh School and familiar challenger Neupane.

Likewise, Ramkumari Acharya of Shreejana Higher Secondary, Pokhara took away the top honour in the partially deaf girls’ 400m sprint. Dhana Darlami of Shikhar Higher Secondary, Surkhet, Reeta Thapa of Amarsingh, Kathmandu, and Roopmati Rai of Nerauki, Kathmandu were in the podium in the girls’ completely blind long jump category.

In boys’ 400m for the deaf, Daya Narayan Chaudhary of Bahira Balak Higher Secondary, Bhairawa, Ajay Karn of Kendriya Vidyalaya and Govinda Pradhan of Kavre Bahira Vidyalaya won gold, silver and bronze respectively.

Ashish Khadgi of Amarsingh, Amardeep Rai of Purwanchal Chachhu and Umesh Dhimal, also from Purwanchal took top three honours respectively in the boys’ shotput for the completely blind.

Khatri, Amatya secure pole position in 100m race

Prakash Khatri of IJ Pioneer School and Lujhala Amatya of Ideal Model School secured gold medals in the sixth Dr Robert Koch Open Track and Field Meet at the Dashrath stadium on Saturday.

Prakash Khatri recorded the quickest time of 12.7 seconds in the Middle School 100-metre boys’ category followed by Ashish Khatri of Ideal Model School and Santosh Kumar Mandal of Nepal APF School.

In the girls’ event, Lujhala Amatya of Ideal finished ahead of Alexa Maharjan of Rato Bangala and Pratibha Male of New Diamond Academy to take top position.

Khatri and Amatya were also the quickest in the 200-metre event. Khatri recorded a time of 26.3 seconds, while Amatya completed the race in 32.0 seconds.

Likewise, Anil Chaudhary of Nightingale School won the long jump boys’ event after leaping 5.13 metres. Sujit K Yadav of APF School and Ashok Chaudhary, also of Nightingale, were second and third respectively. Bhawana Lama of Mangal High School secured top position with a jump of 3.64 metres in the girls’ event.

In the college level competition, Ashish Chaudhary of Nightingale, Bijaya Maharjan of  National Multiple College and Kiran Chaudhary of Kantipur City College were the three fastest runners in the 100-metre men’s event. Similarly, Ramila Tandukar of Edmire Academy recorded the fastest time in the women’s category.

Also, Suman  Tiwari of KMC and Sangita Tiwari of United came first in the 400-metre men’s and women’s categories respectively. Ashish also came first in the men’s long jump, while Mina Kumari Mahato won in the women’s category.

National Special Sports Competition from tomorrow

KATHMANDU: The School-Level National Special Sports Competition is going to be organised here from tomorrowby the National Sports Council (NSC).

Min Kumar Sharma, Member of the Organising Committee, today told media persons that those who are disabled by birth as well as those who became disabled in different accidents would participate in the competition.

Sharma said that the competition is being organised for the past 18 years to exhibit sports capability of disabled players as well as to ensure their rights to play. 

There would be competition in visually impaired, physically disabled and hard of hearing categories. 

A total of 302 players including 93 in visually impaired category, 107 in physically disabled category and the remaining in hard of hearing category are participating in the program. 

The players would compete for 46 gold, silver and bronze medals in each category in the two-day competition.

The competition would be held at the Tripureshwor-based Dasharath Stadium.

Four athletes set to compete in Asian c'ships

 Worlds participation only after evaluating the players' performance in Pune

KATHMANDU: Four athletes are all set to represent Nepal in the 20th Asian Athletics Championships scheduled for July 3-7 in Pune, India.

National Team Preparation Committee had recommended the names of four players — Tilak Ram Tharu, Kalyan Baniya, Dil Maya Karki and Keshari Chaudhary, who are currently undergoing closed camp training for the Championships.

“Our participation in the Asian Championships has been confirmed and we have already approved the names of four players as suggested by the committee,” National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yubaraj Lama told The Himalayan Times. 

Nepal Police Club (NPC) sprinter Tilak will compete in the men’s 100m and 200m races, while Armyman Kalyan is set to compete in the 1,500m and 5,000m. Keshari of NPC will participate in the women’s 100m hurdles and triple jump, while Nepal APF Club’s Dil Maya will take part in women’s 200m and 400m races.

Member secretary Lama said the participation in the 14th IAAF World Championships will be decided later. “We will decide our participation at the Worlds after evaluating the players’ performance in Pune. We will send the athletes to Moscow only if they break national record in the Asian Championships,” added Lama. The World Championships will be held from August 10-18 in Russia.

Lama further added they had no problems in sending these four players in the Asian Championships. “Since the Nepal Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA), led by Nilendra Raj Shrestha selected these players from the 38th National Athletics Championships in April, we had no problems to approve the list of players,” he added. The participation had come under cloud after the two parallel bodies of NAAA claimed their stake. “Now both the committees have come to an agreement,” clarified Lama. All the four players are national champions in their categories and hold national records.

The Internationally-recognised NAAA General Secretary Rabi Raj Rajkarnikar said it was his proposal to send these players to Pune. “Initially we had decided to send two players to Asian and other two to the World Championships. Later I proposed the NSC to send all the four players to Pune and also requested the sports governing body to select the athletes for the Worlds after evaluating their performance,” said Rajkarnikar.

Chief coach Sushil Narsingh Rana said it would be a great exposure for the players to compete in the Asian Championships. “Since our target is to win medals in the South Asian Games, the tournament will be a perfect platform for the players,” said Rana. He further added his deputy Rakesh Bajracharya will lead the team to Pune.

Rana also said he was hoping new national records in sprint. “These players have been impressive in training for the last 10 months. Evaluating their timing in the training, I am expecting new national records from the short-distance runners,” added Rana. The team will leave for Pune next week.

Kopila wins two gold medals in Special Sports

KATHMANDU, JUN 21 -

Kopila Kumaal of Tanahun-based Deepjyoti Higher Secondary School bagged two gold medals in the 18th National School Level Special Sports Championship at the Dashrath stadium on Thursday.

Physically challenged Kopila claimed gold in 100m and 200m girls’ sprint without crutches. Apsara Pandey of Nirmala School bagged two bronze medals in 100m and 200m.

In the visually impaired above 15 years boys’ softball category, Amardeep Rai of the Eastern region Gyan Chakchyu, Dharan secured first position while Radhesyam Chaudhary of Mangal Prasad Higher Secondary School, Banke came second and Umesh Dhital of the Eastern stood third.

In the tournament organised by the National Sports Council, Munna Sunwar of Shree Janta Secondary School, Sarlahi achieved gold in the physically challenged girls’ 200m category. Bhisma Kumaal of Shaarda Higher Secondary School, Tanahun and Bijaya Chowdhary of Sayapatri Higher Secondary School, Kailai attained silver and bronze respectively.

In the hearing impaired girls’ long jump event, Laxmi Maharjan of Kendriya Bahira Higher Secondary School, Kathmandu won gold ahead of Shanti Thanet of Manakamana Bahira Secondary School, Gorkha and Daasi Maya Khanal of Srijana Bahira Higher Secondary School, Pokhara.

Likewise, in the hearing impaired boys’ 100m category, Sangam Pakhrin of Kendriya Bahira secured the first position, while Suraj Khadka of Manakamana and Devendra Saru of Bahira Baalak HS School, Bhairarwaha were second and third respectively. In the visually challenged girls’ 50m event, Ghana Darlami, Sarita Aryal and Madhumaya Paudyal claimed first, second and third positions.

The two-day competition was inaugurated by Youth and Sports minister Ram Kumar Shrestha. During the program, Shrestha stated that some individuals are mentally strong despite having physical disadvantages.

Shreya, Sirish, Miraj selected

As expected Shreya Dhital and Sirish Gurung qualified to participate in the 13th FINA World Championship which will be held from July 19 to August 14 in Barcelona, Spain. Both Shreya and Sirish were the quickest in the men’s and women’s 100m freestyle respectively in the 18th Open Swimming Championship.

Miraj Prajapati who finished second in the men’s 100m freestyle will also fly to Spain after he was adjudged as the emerging player.

The 18-year-old Shreya had overcome stiff competition from Sophia Shah and bettered her own record in the 100m freestyle to 1.09.82 on Tuesday to get selected.

“I am hopeful I will be able to set a national record in Spain as I was able to do quite well in the first tournament of the season,” Shreya who had represented Nepal in the 2012 London Olympics said.

“I am happy with my performance. I am not fit yet as I had gained weight in the off season and yet I was able to better my record,” added Shreya, who is all set to join Colombia University in August. She finished the competition with two national records and four gold medals to her name.

Likewise, teen sensation Sirish added one more gold medal on Wednesday to take his tally to five gold. The Nepal Police Club’s player completed 100m freestyle in 1 minute 1 second to qualify. Miraj came second with 1.01.82. Despite being selected, Sirish was not happy with his performance. “I was hoping for better timing but I slipped while turning and lost crucial seconds,” the 15-year-old versatile athlete said.

Sirish who had spent the last two months training in Bangalore had grabbed gold in 400m freestyle with the timing of 5.21.97 minutes.

Sirish said that his training did not turn as fruitful as he had expected. “I had concentrated in my SLC exams and spent the winter resting so the two months went mostly in getting fit,” Sirish said.

Likewise, getting qualified came as a surprise for the 17-year-old Miraj as he had spent a month away from the swimming pool nursing his viral fever. “I feel good and hope to get better,” said the 5.9 inches tall who has previously represented Nepal in Dubai and Turkey. Likewise, Sonira Bista grabbed gold in women’s 200 and 50m breaststroke.

Shreya’s younger sibling Aditi Dhital was the quickest in women’s 200m freestyle. Similarly, Tribhuvan Army Club won three gold medals in the final day of the two-day event after Prabesh Adhikari, Gobinda Karki and Jayan Gurung won men’s 100m breaststroke, 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke respectively.

Wins for Kantipur and PJ

KATHMANDU, JUN 20 -

Kantipur and PJ club have registered victories in the sixth Virgin Media Club football tournament on Wednesday.

Played at the Buddhibikas sports ground at Lagankhel, Kantipur comprehensively defeated Radio Nepal 6-0 in their first game. Dipesh Raut, who scored four goals for Kantipur was declared Man of the Match.

Bipin Khadka and Samir Tamang added one goal each for the winners.

In the tournament organized by Nepal Olympic Museum, PJ club edge Aarthik Aviyan 2-1 in the other game. Buddha Kutu scored both goals for the victors, while Pradip Adhikari netted a consolation goal for Aarthik Aviyan.

Shreya betters her own record

KATHMANDU, JUN 19 -

Four new records were set on the first day of the 18th Open Swimming Championship on Tuesday.

Shreya Dhital set two new national records, while Sofia Shah and Sirish Gurung too recorded new timing at the championship orgainsed by Nepal Swimming  to select three players for the FINA World Championship in Barcelona, Spain.

Dhital bettered her own record in 100m freestyle as she completed the distance in of 01:10.80. She had previously set the record in the London Olympics. Shah who came second also broke Shah’s record 2021 London Olympics with her timing of 1:10:59. Oshena Bharati finished third.

Dhital triumphed in the women’s 50m butterfly as well with the timing of 00.34.69 again beating her previous best of 00:34.75 in the 50 meter fly category. Sofia Shah and Anjalee Syangbo came second and third.

Likewise, teen sensation Sirish Gurung too set a new record  in the men’s 200 meter free style. On the way to breaking his own record which he had set at the NSA Cup last year, Sirish swam the distance in 02.13.84. The Nepal Police swimmer’s  previous recorded was 02:17.10.

Devesh Manandhar and Nitesh Manandhar came in at second and third in this particular category.

Sirish also came in at first position in the men 100 meter backstroke and the men 100 meter FLY category.

Likewise, Ceila Gurung won two gold medals. She prevailed in women’s 200m and 50 m back stroke.

Similarly,  Sonira Bista took the pole position in women 100 meter breaststroke.

In other Men events, Kiran Karki was the quickest in the 200 meter Breast category while Prabesh Adhikari came in at first position in the 50 meter Breast event. Dilip Thapa won gold in 50m freestyle.

England enter semi-finals

England advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy on Sunday after beating New Zealand by 10 runs at Sophia Gardens. 

Alastair Cook’s 64, along with 38 from Joe Root, helped England reach 169 all out off 23.3 overs in a match reduced to 24 overs each side due to rain. Kyle Mills took 4-30 and Mitchell McClenaghan 3-36. In reply, New Zealand could only reach 159-8 in its 24 overs, with Kane Williamson hitting 67 and Corey Anderson 30. James Anderson finished with 3-32 and Ravi Bopara 2-26.

Cook provided the foundation for England’s innings, hitting four fours and two rare sixes, but he was fortunate to stay at the crease so long as Nathan McCullum dropped the England captain three times. 

McCullum finally caught Cook at the fourth attempt off his own bowling but, with wickets in hand, Eoin Morgan (15) and Jos Buttler (14) added valuable runs to the total. 

Williamson proved the only threat to England’s bowlers, hitting 67 off 54 balls, including eight boundaries and one six. The top two teams advance from each group, with England through with four points. 

New Zealand have three points and must wait for the result of the final Group A match between Sri Lanka and Australia at The Oval. Sri Lanka have two points and Australia is bottom with one. Teams get two points for a win.

Spain beat Uruguay; Pirlo impresses

AGENCIES

RECIFE: First-half goals from Pedro and Roberto Soldado were enough to give Spain a 2-1 victory over Uruguay in their Group B opener here while Mario Balotelli struck a 77th-minute winner as Italy began their campaign with 2-1 victory over Mexico in the Confederations Cup.

Luiz Suarez scored a late consolation for Uruguay but the World and European champions dominated the game from start to finish and could easily have won by more. Fabregas, Pedro and Andres Iniesta all came close in the first quarter of an hour before a 20th minute corner was knocked out of the Uruguay box as far as Pedro whose fierce shot was deflected by Diego Lugano past a helpless Fernando Muslera.

The goal roused Uruguay and they came close with an Edinson Cavani header before Iniesta and Fabregas orchestrated Spain’s second with Iniesta dragging defenders one way and Fabregas’ instead passed to Soldado who coolly slotted home. Uruguay picked up a late consolation when Liverpool striker Luis Suarez curled home a free kick two minutes from time.

At Maracana, Balotelli scored the winner and Andrea Pirlo, capping a majestic 100th international appearance by scoring with a 30-metre free kick, provided the inspiration to Italy.

Pirlo’s goal was entirely worthy of the hallowed Maracana, which provided the perfect stage as he became the fifth Italian to reach a century of full internationals. The 34-year-old brought the fickle and notoriously difficult-to-please Maracana crowd to its feet as he curled the ball over the wall and into the top corner in the 27th minute from distance.

The crowd chanted Pirlo’s name before and after the goal, the rarest honour for a foreign player on a stage previously graced by the likes of Garrincha, Pele, Zico and Romario. Balotelli’s goal was more about power as he latched on to Emanuele Giaccherini’s flicked pass, barged past defender Francisco Rodriguez and fired the ball past Jose Corona with 12 minutes to go.

Javier Hernandez had replied for Mexico with a penalty seven minutes after Pirlo’s masterpiece. Balotelli, whose notorious temper had been bubbling under the surface for most of the second half, took his shirt off in celebration, earning a yellow card and a reprimand from his coach.

“He wanted to take his shirt off and show his muscles, but all the yellow cards count,” said Prandelli, who had suspended Balotelli for indiscipline with former club Manchester City.

“But he played well and didn’t let anyone get to him. He was attentive for the whole game and has shown strength of character.” The defeat heaped more pressure on Mexico’s under-fire coach Jose Manuel de la Torre, whose team have been held to draws at home by Costa Rica, Jamaica and the United States in World Cup qualifying.

Sulav strikes treble as MMC outplay Armymen in final

KATHMANDU: Sulav Maskey scored a hat-trick as Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) claimed maiden Gurkha Cup title in their third attempt with a 4-1 rout of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) here today. 

It was the fourth title for six-time ‘A’ Division League champions MMC inside nine months after winning the Ncell Cup (October 13), Safal Pokhara Cup (November 10) and Simara Gold Cup (February 16). Despite making it to the final twice in the first two editions, MMC had lost to Three Star Club in both the occasions. 

With the win, MMC earned a cheque of one million rupees, while Armymen took home Rs 500,000. Losing semi-finalists Laxmi Bank Three Star Club and Boys Union Club received Rs 100,000 each. 

Apart from Sulav, Anil Gurung added one for MMC, while best striker of the tournament Kashi Raj Karki scored a consolation goal for Armymen, who were playing their first final in Kathmandu after seven years. 

Sulav provided an early eighth minute lead for MMC firing home from the area following a Shiva Shrestha acute cross. Anil doubled MMC tally scoring from the edge of the area after Bishal Rai set for the striker collecting a Deepak Rai cross in the 17th minute. 

Kashi Raj cut TAC deficit scoring in an unattended post from close range in a pass from Tanka Basnet in the 29th minute. Sulav restored MMC two-goal cushion scoring from inside the six-yard box in Rupesh KC cross in the 48th minute before completing his hat-trick one minute before the time. He struck from the edge of the area in a Deepak Rai cross. 

MMC and Armymen also shared the best individual honours winning three awards each. TAC winger Tanka Basnet was declared the best player of the tournament and received a Yamaha motorbike, while his clubmates Tek Bahadur Budhathoki and Kashi Raj were named the best midfielder and forward respectively. 

Bishal Shrestha, skipper Sagar Thapa and Amrit Panta, all from MMC, bagged the best goalkeeper, defender and coach awards respectively. All 

the best individuals received Rs 50,000 apiece. MMC coach Panta was all praise of his boys for playing an attacking football. TAC coach Yogambar Suwal blamed his poor defense line for the one-sided result.

National Campus crowned champions

National Campus were crowned champions of the First Bir Ganeshman Memorial Inter-college Basketball Tournament on Wednesday with a convincing win.
The match played at the covered hall of the National Sports Council in Tripureshwor saw National Campus defeat International College ‘A’ 64-47 to claim the championship and remain unbeaten throughout the tournament.
Shaswat Bikram Singh contributed 16 points for National. Ajay Nepali scored 23 points for International but he couldn’t rescue his team from defeat.
National had taken a 12-6 lead in the first quarter and continued to build on this lead as they won all three remaining quarters 9-8, 19-11 and 24-22 respectively.
National were also awarded with a cash prize of Rs 20,000 while runners-up International were handed Rs 10,000.
There was further joy for National as Chiring Sherpa was announced as The Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Sherpa got Rs 5,000 cash prize for the feat. Meanwhile, United College won the Fair Play Award.
The 13-day long tournament saw participation from 24 teams from colleges around Kathmandu.

Manang edge Three Star to reach final

 Bishal Rai came off the bench to score a late goal to take Manang Marshyangdi Club into the Gurkha Cup final with a 1-0 victory over Three Star at the Dashrath stadium on Thursday.
Manang will play Nepal Army in the summit clash on Saturday.
Rai, who was brought on late into the regulation time, justified his coach Amrit Panta’s move by stealing the victory for Manang in the 87th minute. The two heavyweights of Nepali club football showed their intent from the onset with rival players keeping the referee busy with their physical game.
Only two minutes into the match, Three Star’s Sabindra Shrestha was booked for committing a misjudged tackle on Deepak Rai.
As the teams continued to make rough tackles, a total of 11 players from either side were shown a yellow card with as many as three players receiving the marching orders.
Bishnu Sunuwar of Three Star was the first to go for an early shower after he committed a second bookable offence in the 42nd minute.
Teammate Jagjeet Shrestha and Yona Elias of Manang followed Sunuwar to the dressing room after a brawl in the second half added time.
Manang coach Panta said he knew that it was always going to be tough against Three Star. “We did not play well in the first half but we sorted out a few flaws in the second and made the substitution which provided us with the desired result,” he said after the match.
On Manang’s plans for the final match against Army, to who they had lost in the group stage, Panta said: “We have learnt from the mistakes we made in that loss and we will give them a tough fight.”
It was tough on both Manang and Three Star as both sides pressed hard in the first half but failed to translate their chances.
In the 37th minute, Manang skipper Sagar Thapa picked out Anil Gurung with a free-kick inside the opposition box but Three Star custodian Kiran Chemjong blocked Gurung’s header. The ball landed into the path of Shiva Shrestha but he lifted his shot over the bar.
Five minutes later, Three Star were down to 10 men after Sunuwar earned his second yellow card for a mistimed tackle on Sujal Shrestha.
Manang went close to taking their numerical advantage on the stroke of half time but Azeez Saheed went wide with his follow-up shot on Bikram Limbu’s free-kick.
Contrary to the crowd’s expectations of a strong start to the second half from Manang, Three Star looked the better of the two during the early exchanges.
In the 61st minute, Zikahi Leonce Dodoz slipped a clever through ball past defenders to allow Santosh Shahukhala in a one-on-one situation but the latter fired
straight into the hands of Manang goalkeeper Bishal Shrestha
Moments later, Jagjeet took a short corner to pick out Biraj Maharjan who dropped the ball into the Manang area where Saroj Dahal rose above everyone else to head the ball but ‘keeper Shrestha made an easy save. Shrestha came with another crucial save in the 73rd minute to deny Jagjeet’s well directed free-kick.
Even though Three Star appeared more aggressive of the two, Manang eventually came away with the all important winner when Rai, who came on in the 80th minute, found the back of the net.
After a brilliant move from Deepak Rai, Gurung headed the ball towards Yona Elias who in turn set up Bishal Rai and the striker let loose a scorcher into the top right corner of the net.