Rare national record for weightlifter Bist

By A Staff Reporter,Hangzhou, Oct. 6: Vishal Singh Bist made a rare national record at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Thursday. Bist became the first weightlifter from Nepal to lift a total of 301kg. 

No Nepali weightlifter had ever lifted a total of 300kg in any weight category before Bist’s achievement.

He participated in the men’s 96kg category, snatching 133kg and clean and jerking 168kg, breaking three national records in the process. This surpassed his own previous records of 126kg in snatch, 165kg in clean and jerk, and 291kg in total, which he had set only a few weeks earlier at the World Weightlifting Championship in Riyadh. 

Bist set a new national record in snatch by lifting 127kg in his second attempt, which he then improved to 133kg on his third lift. He also bettered his mark in clean and jerk, lifting 168kg on his second attempt. 

Ramkrishna Shrestha (Bose), the manager of the Nepali team and president of the Nepal Weightlifting Association, announced that Sagar Bhandari of Nepal will compete in the 109kg category on Saturday. Five Nepal players are participating in the weightlifting event at the Asiad.

In the marathon event, Rajan Rokaya finished in 14th place, clocking 2 hours 23.17 minutes, while Pushpa Bhandari came in 16th with a time of 3 hours 02.37 minutes.  With the completion of the marathon, Nepal’s challenge in athletics at the Asiad has come to an end.

However, Nepal’s start in the Asian Games Karate was disappointing, with all three Nepali karate players eliminated from the competition on the first day. 

Shekhu Mohammad Alam was defeated by Kazakhstan’s Nurkant Azhikanov 5-0 in the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s U75kg Kumite category.  Alam also lost his repechage second round bout. He enjoyed a bye in the round one of repechage bout. 

In the women’s freestyle 57kg event, Siwangi Dube lost to Thailand’s Sriprapa Kaew Tho. 

Similarly, Sonim Manandhar and Alisa Magar Raskoti also failed to advance in the men’s and women’s individual kata categories, respectively. Manandhar scored 38.30 and Raskoti scored 37.30.

In men’s Kayak, Nepal’s Ganesh Gurung qualified for the semifinals, finishing 14th out of 16 players in the first heat round and trailing in seventh place in the second heat round, which was competed by eight players.