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Kathmandu Friday August 03, 2001 Shrawan 19, 2058.
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Eastern Region books final
berth, to face Army
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Aug 2 - Buoyed by Hari Thakuri’s
hat-trick, Eastern Region drubbed the Mahendra Police Club (MPC) 4-1 Thursday to enter the
final of the 25th National Football Championship.
Eastern Region is set to lock horns with the
Tribhuvan Club (TC), who won their semi-final match against the Central Region, in the
title match to be played Saturday.
MPC, playing without their veteran duo Hari
Khadka and Rakesh Shrestha, could hardly create opportunities in the midfield. On the
other hand, Eastern Region boys played in their usual aggressive style scoring through
Thakuri’s header in the 9th minute of the play.
Thakuri did not lose the opportunity to net
another when Purna Subba’s 25-yard shot was reflected from the crossbar in the 19th
minute. The score at the half-time was 2-0 in favour of the Eastern boys.
The boys from the east took the decisive lead
ten minutes into the second half when Thakuri was brought down by MPC skipper Anil
Adhikari inside the 18 yard box. Surendra Tamang, who took the penalty, did not squander
the chance.
The final and Thakuri’s hat-trick goal came
in the 87th minute, just a couple of minutes after Raju Pulami had scored a consolation
goal for the police team.
Although Hari Thakuri scored three goals in the
match, he missed one in the 6 minute when he failed to direct the ball into MPC net,
passed to him from right by Bijaya Subba.
MPC players also missed a string of chances.
Ramesh Budathoki’s powerful 15-yard shot was brilliantly saved by Eastern goalie
Ritesh Thapa who dived to his right to get the ball firmly in his hands.
Dev Narayan Chaudhari, tried his trademark
header in the 27 minute of the game but could not direct it towards the net.
In the day’s other semi-final, Chhannu Ram
Chaudhari of TC made two exceptional diving saves in the tie-breaker to register his team
in the Saturday’s final. The game went into penalty shoot-out after it remained in a
goalless deadlock even after the extra time.
Earlier, during the regulation time, both the
teams lost opportunities to score goal. Although Central Region dominated most of the
second-half play, they could not score against the 10-men army team.
TC was reduced to ten players when Prakash
Thapamagar was given his marching orders by
Gyani Raja Shrestha two minutes from the regulation period for a ferocious tackle on
Narayan Manandhar.
In the penalty shoot-out, both the team netted
first two goals but Naresh Shrestha of Central Region could not continue the scoring
streak as TC goalie Chhanu Ram Chaudhari dived to his right to block the weak shot.
However, TC Bishwa Bairag Samal misdirected the ball above the post to halt the score 3-2.
Any remaining hope of Central Region team was shattered when Aita Singh Tamang failed the
last penalty shot.
Central, Mid-western Regions dominate
badminton
Eighteen shuttlers made it through to the close
camp as the National Open Badminton Selection tournament concluded at Tripureshwor Covered
Hall on Thursday.
Central and Mid-western Regions, which have
always been the producer of top class badminton players, made their mark in the tournament
too.
Central Region has seven players, including four women, selected for the close session
training while five shuttlers, four of them men, from Mid-western made past the selection.
The tournament organised by the Nepal Badminton
Association featured a total of 37 players, including 12 women representing five Regions
and Nepal Police.
Players selected for the closed camp, Men’s—Kiran
Thapa, Samir Bahadur Singh, Balram Thapa (Central Region); Sudeep Yonzan, Jayant Shrestha,
Anil Lakhe, Prajjwal Jung Rana (Mid-western); Ram Singh Chaudhary, Pankaj Chand
(Far-western); Bharat Shrestha (Nepal Police).
Women’s—Rajani Shrestha, Kalpana Rana,
Sujma Shrestha, Bina Tulachan (Central); Sumina Shrestha, Samjhana Khaling, Sunita Limbu
(Eastern); Gopi Singh (Mid-western).
Army outscore others in volleyball
Royal Nepal Army outnumbered other teams as
eight of their players were selected for the closed session in the lead-up to the
forthcoming 9th SAF Games.
The selection held by the Nepal Volleyball
Association (NVA) included a total of 20 players from five regions, Nepal Police and Royal
Nepal Army.
Selected players: Rajkumar AC, Tarakant
Chaudhary, Ram Chandra Kumal, Keshav Pandey, Chhabilal Oli, Sanjeev Shah, Gopal Godar,
Indra Bahadur Shrestha (Royal Nepal Army); Shyam Prasad Thakur, Shree Ram Bogati, Ravi
Bogati, Ramananda Singh Tharu (Central); Lekhnath Lamsal, Bharat Shah, Dan Bahadur Malla
(Nepal Police); Bir Narayan Chaudhary, Rajkumar Samergam (Eastern); Deepak Thapa
(Western). |
