Ghising wins gold medal

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 10: Srijana Ghising of Nepal won the gold medal in the World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix Final (G10) held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In the final of Under-52kg of K44 held on Thursday night, Ghising overcame World Ranked One player Cavdar Meryem Betul of Turkey by 12-0 to win the historic gold medal for Nepal. 

En route to the final, World Ranked 14 Ghising defeated third-seeded Cristhiane Nascimento of Brazil by 15-13 in the semifinal and World Number 2 Jessica Garcia Quijano of Mexico by 8-7 in the quarterfinal. 

This is the first time Nepali Para Taekwondo players have participated in a Grand Prix Final. Along with Ghising, Olympian Palesha Goverdhan also represented Nepal in the Grand Prix.

Goverdhan, who competed in the K44-57kg category, crashed out after losing to Iran’s Ebrahimi Roza by 2-8 in the quarterfinals.

After winning the gold, Srijana jumped to the 7th position in the world ranking in her weight category. Nepal, however, could not get a direct qualification in the 2024 Paralympic Games to 

be held in Paris, France. Players finishing in the top six positions at the World Ranking are eligible for direct participation in the Paris Paralympics.

Nepal, now, has to wait for the wild cards for entry into the Paralympics. Ghising is a silver medalist in the Asian Para Youth Games and World Taekwondo President’s Cup.