NRT to take Friends’ Club in final

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BUTWAL, March 8 : Prakash Vaidya’s brilliant work under the bar helped NRT overcome a spirited Pokhara XI in the sudden death penalty shoot-out as they won by 8-7 here Friday to set up the final meeting with Friends’ Club on Sunday in the Tilottama Gold Cup Football tournament.

The match was extended to sudden death penalty shoot-out after both the teams were levelled at 4-4 at the end of five regular penalties. Despite misses from striker Ramesh Sinkaman and Subesh Lama, the Kathmandu-based club managed to recover through the heroics of Vaidya under the bar to enter the final of the coveted tournament as three of the Pokhara players spurned their shots. Prem Pun, Drabya Jung Rana and Ganesh Thapa all failed for Pokhara XI.

NRT, who put out the challenge of mighty Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) in the quarterfinals, found themselves into the final when Ratna Kaji Maharjan buried his shot into the net.

Earlier, the two teams started aggressively indulging in entertaining contest only not to find the net. And as the scoreline remained unchanged at the end of regulation as well as extra time, the match had to be resolved on penalties.

NRT, who looked much sharper in the midfield, held better percentage of ball possession in the opening session. However, their attempts to get closer to the goal were kept at bay by a well-knitted Pokhara defense.

NRT saw three convincing moves in the 20th, 25th and 38th minutes going without success. And the teams went for the break without any score.

NRT coach, in his desperate attempt to find a way out of impasse, fielded popular striker Hari Thakuri in the second half but he was disappointed as the striker failed to produce any miracle.

In the second half the inspired Pokhara team, who downed star-studded Mahendra Police Club on the road to the quarterfinals, also launched some full-blooded attacks. But the success eluded them too as they wasted the chances that came to their way.

YCC enter semifinals

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KATHMANDU, March 8 : Youth Cricket Club (YCC) booked their place in the semifinals of the Ganesh Man Memorial Cricket tournament as they beat Baluwatar Cricket Club (BCC) by 3-wicket on Friday.

The match being played at Tribhuvan University cricket ground saw a middle-order collapse on the both sides but YCC all rounder Paras Lunia scored 41 late runs to offer his team a well-deserved victory with two overs remaining in YCC innings.

Chasing a moderate target of 164 runs YCC were struggling at 101 for six in 24 overs but a handy seventh wicket partnership of 57 runs between Luniya and Roshan Budathoki, who remained unbeaten at 19 runs, turned the match in YCC’s favour in the 38th over.

Earlier, BCC won the toss and elected to bat first but pace bowler Manjeet Shrestha trapped opener Rikesh Lama in his third over to reduce BCC at 26 for the cost of a wicket in the 5th over.

A solid second wicket partnership between Deepan Lamgade (35) and Sagar Pant (51) put BCC at strong position but after the departure of both set batsmen middle-order failure to cope YCC bowling restricted them to mere 163 in 40 overs for the loss of nine wickets. Panta’s patient half century came off 102 balls featuring four perfectly timed boundaries. Nagendra Bhattarai hit quick 19 off 13 balls before being run out in the later part of BCC innings.

Right leggie Raj Kumar Pradhan maintained good line and length removing two BCC batsmen in his eight-over spell conceding just 19 runs. Roshan Budathoki grabbed two crucial wickets of set batsman Panta and dangerous Shakti Gouchan. Also to strike double for YCC was fast bowler Manjeet Shrestha. YCC also left the mark on fielding as two BCC batsmen were run out.

In YCC innings, opening batsmen Mehboob Alam and Yashwanta Subedi (13) put a solid foundation with 69 runs for the first wicket. Alam, taking the advantage of field restriction, produced some bold shots to hit 42 runs in 32 balls. He belted six boundaries before being run out. 

Besides Bardan Chalise, who grabbed two wickets, no BCC bowler could make impression but Gouchan remained economical in his eight-over spell giving away just 18 runs. Sagar Pant of the losing side was adjudged man of the match.

RIBS to meet Gyanodaya in senior boys’ final

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KATHMANDU, March 8 : A match winning 28 points from Jagat Gauchan guided RIBS ‘A’ to the senior boys’ semifinals in the Wilson Inter-school Basketball tournament with a 61-42 win over Tungram Academy in a match played on Friday.

Tender Hirachan also contributed with 10 points in his team’s win while Pujan Gurung led Tungram’s challenge scoring 22 points.

The most exciting match in the senior boys’ category, however, took place between the hosts Wilson Academy and Gyanodaya. It went down to the wire before Gyanodaya won by a solitary point at 50-49.

Wilson Academy, aided by Amit Tulachan who scored 22 points, were ahead by a point with only few minutes for time but a basket from Dhruba Hirachan saw Gyanodaya snatch the match
from the jaws of defeat. Bhupendra Pun led the Gyanodaya assault with the match’s highest score of 24 points.

The senior boys’ final will be played on Saturday.

The junior boys brought some consolation to the hosts as they inched closed to the title posting a commanding 52-19 win over Sridewa Boarding School in the semifinals. Ranjit Giri was the nucleus of the home team, accounting for 18 points.

Gyanodaya’s dream of seeing both their boys’ teams in the final was shattered by Excelsior, who won the second semifinal with a convincing margin of 43-26. Tensing Norbu and Star Limbu excelled for the winning team in the match with 12 and 13 points respectively.

Meanwhile in the girls’ section, Excelsior became another cause for the hosts’ disappointment as they edged out Wilson 36-34 in the first semifinal. Tabasum Banu produced a lucky-strike for Excelsior five seconds from time. Bina Yonzon did much of the hard work for the winning team with the match’s highest score of 16 points.

To meet Excelsior in the Saturday’s final, Gyanodaya overwhelmed Reliance 40-9 in the other semifinal. Reliance found Gyanodaya trio – Swasti Hirachan, Preeti Hirachan and Sadikchchya Thapa – too good to be contented as they sneaked through their defence almost at will, respectively scoring 10, 10 and 14 points.