Nepali players' early elimination continues in Asian Games

By Gobinda Regmi,Hangzhou, Sept. 26: Nepal's athletes at the 19th Asian Games had another frustrating day as they continued to be eliminated from the competition. There were disappointments in mountain biking and fencing, with Usha Khanal and Suraj Rana Magar unable to complete their respective cross country races. 

In fencing, Payas Yonjan and Rajendra Gajurel lost all five of their matches in the men's Sabre individual category, while Mandira Thapa and Goma Acharya failed to win any of their five matches in the women's foil individual category. Swimmers Alexander Gadegaard Shah and Duana Lama also crashed out in the heat round.

There were a few bright spots, however. Anjali Tamang won her first-round bout in women's 49kg Taekwondo against Cambodia's Lyden Kry 2-0 before losing to Thailand's Wongpattanakit in the Round of 16. 

Similarly, Rabin Thapa advanced to the pre-quarterfinal of men's 51kg boxing by beating Indonesia's Dio Koebanu 4-1.

Taekwondo player Rahul Kumar (men's 58kg) also became an early returnee from the Asiad by losing to Saudi Arabia's Riad Nasser Hamdi 0-2.

Taekwondo has fetched most medals includfor Nepal in the Asian Games. 

Taekwondo has given Nepal its first Asian Games silver medal. It is the game that has fetched 15 medals for Nepal. 

In this edition, 11 taekwondo players are in contention. Off them four were eliminated.

Boxer Dipesh Lama (men’s 71kg) lost to India’s Nishant Dev and Binita Thapa Magar (women's 66kg) lost to Chinese Taipei’s Nien Chin Chen in the Referee Stop Contest decision.

In Wushu, Sushmita Tamang finished in eighth place in the women's changquan event with a score of 9.410, while Pasang Sherpa finished at the bottom of the men's Taijiquan final event with 9.03 points. 

Sherpa also finished second last in men’s Taijijian. In men's 65kg Sanda, Saman Ghushry lost to Thailand's Chana Kamolklang Tha 0-2.

Judo proved to be a difficult event for Nepal, with Manita Pradhan Shrestha losing in the Round of 16 in women's 57kg and Punam Shrestha also crashing out in the women's 70kg Round of 16. 

In the men's section, Janga Bahadur Saru was defeated by Philippino John Viron Ferrer in the 81kg Round of 32. 

Nepal's rugby team lost to the Philippines 55-0 and Thailand 36-0 in the placing 9-13 matches. In 3x3 women's basketball, Nepal lost to Japan 4-22. 

In Tennis, Pradip Khadka and Abhishek Bastola lost in the second round of men's singles to Shintaro Mochizuki (7-5, 6-1) and Chak Lam Wong (6-2, 6-0) respectively. 

In women's doubles, Nepal's Mahika Rana and Abhilasha Bista were defeated by South Korea's Dayeon Back and Boyoung Jeong 6-1, 6-0.  In mixed doubles, Abhilasha Bista and Abhishek Bastola surrendered to Indonesia's Aldila Sutjiadi and Christopher Benjamin Rungkat 6-0, 6-0 in straight sets. 

Finally, Nepal's women's football team suffered an 8-0 defeat to Japan in Group D, following on from their previous loss to Vietnam. With two defeats, Nepal's hopes of advancing to the next round have been shattered.