{"id":1501,"date":"2019-12-03T08:40:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T02:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meromauka.com\/news\/?p=1501"},"modified":"2019-12-03T08:40:03","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T02:55:03","slug":"on-day-one-of-south-asian-games-gold-rush-and-records-for-nepal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meromauka.com\/news\/on-day-one-of-south-asian-games-gold-rush-and-records-for-nepal\/","title":{"rendered":"On day one of South Asian Games, gold rush and records for Nepal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first day of the 13th South Asian Games saw gold medals rain as Nepali karatekas and taekwondoins outsmarted their opponents to prove, once again, that Nepal is the powerhouse of martial arts in South Asia. The athletes did so in style and grit that reminded many of Nepal\u2019s early years of absolute dominance in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this despite\u00a0the government\u2019s lackadaisical support\u00a0for Nepali athletes, who often find themselves undertrained and underequipped in the final weeks leading to big tournaments where they represent the country and are expected to strike gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nepal claimed a total of\u00a024 medals on home ground on the first day\u00a0of the biggest sporting event in the region\u201415 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze. Compared to the last edition of the Games hosted in India, when Nepal came in sixth with only 60 medals\u20143 gold, 23 silver and 34 bronze, this is a huge moment for the country\u2019s sports, especially for karate, which was not included as a discipline then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMartial arts are disciplines that have fetched the highest number of medals in international tournaments but we feel our sport, especially karate, has never received government attention,\u201d said Manday Kaji Shrestha, who clinched a double gold on the first day of the 13th South Asian Games and became the first Nepali to do so. \u201cWe can emerge as one of the top teams in Asia if the government invests on us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the nine gold medals up for grabs in karate on the first day of the tournament, Nepali karatekas secured seven, including the double gold by Shrestha in men\u2019s individual and team kata event with Mahasus Tamang and Prabin Manandhar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are hopeful of winning five to six gold medals in the next two days,\u201d said Shrestha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Sangita Malla, Nirmala Tamang and Saru Karki also claimed gold in the women\u2019s team kata category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the men\u2019s kumite event, Laxman Tamang (U-55kg) and Biplav Lal Shrestha clinched gold for Nepal, while Kusum Khadka (U-45kg) and Anu Adhikari (U-50kg) finished on top spots. Adhikari, who won both her bouts in technical knockouts of 8-0, had no match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chanchala Dunuwar and Diwas Shrestha had to settle for silver medals in women\u2019s individual kata and U-84kg kumite events respectively, cutting short Nepal\u2019s clean sweep on gold medals by two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nepal will be competing for 10 more gold medals in karate in the next two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nepali athletes who won medals in different categories of Karate on Monday.  Post Photo<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emotions also ran high in Nepal\u2019s taekwondo camp with Nepal\u2019s senior taekwondoins striking seven gold medals and creating history while breaking the dry spell of gold medals since the 1999 edition of the Games, when Nepal finished second with a record haul of 14 gold medals out of the total 32 gold medals in the discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe outcome is a result of our tireless players and coaches. We will be competing for 16 more gold medals in the next three days. Today\u2019s success will inspire other players to do better,\u201d said chief coach Nabin Shrestha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had the home ground advantage, no doubt, but the government needs to\u00a0come up with plans and back it up financially\u00a0if we want to retain our success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the first day of the tournament, Nepali taekwondoins pocketed seven gold medals out of 13, including a double gold by Ayasha Shakya, who became the second Nepali and the first Nepali woman athlete to set the record for two golds in the Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shakya first won gold for women\u2019s individual poomsae (29 years above). No sooner, she struck another gold in pair poomsae (29 years above) with Sanjib Kumar Ojha. Similarly, Ashmin Raut and Sina Limbu Maden (17-23 years) and Jit Bahadur Bot and Parbati Gurung (23-29 years) settled for bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Maden and Gurung also claimed a gold medal in women\u2019s individual poomsae under respective weight categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nepal\u2019s women team (17-23 years) comprising of Nisha Darnal, Swastika Tamang and Sanjila Timalsina also added one gold in the women\u2019s team poomsae. Another team, of Nita Gurung, Prashansa Chhetri and Shushila Rai (23 years above), pocketed one more gold for Nepal in the women\u2019s team poomsae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Kamal Shrestha, Jit Bahadur Bot and Prem Bahadur Limbu (23 years above) settled for bronze in the men\u2019s team poomsae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the men\u2019s individual poomsae, Kamal Shrestha (23-29 years) bagged gold, while Krishna Bahadur Tamang (17-23 years) and Rejin Rimal (29 years above) settled for silver and bronze medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the triathlon event held in Pokhara, Soni Gurung\u00a0secured a gold medal\u00a0in the women\u2019s category, while Basanta Tharu won bronze for Nepal in the men\u2019s category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nepal\u2019s medal haul could see bigger results on Tuesday when its judokas and wushukas enter the arena to compete for 15 and 22 gold medals, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n