Gurung breaks 14-year-old record in 50m freestyle

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LALITPUR, June 12 : Chitra Bahadur Gurung registered a new record in men’s 50m freestyle today at the Dhirendra-Prechhya Memorial Inter-school Age Group and Open Swimming Championship that concluded at Birendra International Swimming Complex, Satdobato.

Gurung completed the course with the timing of 26.39sec, slicing more than a second off the long-standing national of 27.58sec set by Anand Lepcha at the fourth South Asian Federation (SAF) Games held in Pakistan capital Islamabad in 1989.

Ace women swimmer was again on limelight as she collected fourth gold medal of the event, winning the women’s 50m freestyle open category in the final day. Shaila Rana finished followed her to finish close second and Sujhana Shakya stood third.

In the 4x50m freestyle relay for girls’ under-17, LRI team outpaced Baba Boarding School to clinch the first spot while Little Angels’ settled for the third. In the same event for the boys, Ideal clinched the gold, finishing ahead of Little Angels’ and Galaxy School.

The team honours of the three-day competition went to Ideal School, who finish at the top with the total of 24 medals, including seven golds. Little Angels’ stood second with 17 medals that included 6 golds.

Chief guest of the event, Princess Sitashma gave away prizes and certificates to the players amid a ceremony held at the complex. Also present on the occasion were member-secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC) Kishor Bahadur Singh, president of the Nepal Swimming Association (NSA) Pradeep Shamsher Rana and general-secretary Ashok Bajracharya.

Other Day 3 winners:

50m freestyle (11-12 yrs): Girls – Oshin Bharati, Martyr Dharma Bhakta School; Boys – Nasiv Rai, Ideal School.

50m freestyle (15-17): Girls – Shaila Rana, St. Mary’s School; Boys – Ram Shrestha, Ideal School.

50m freestyle (13-14): Girls – Sujhana Shakya, Rato Bangala School; Boys – Prem Lama, Baba Boarding School.

50m freestyle U-10: Girls – Rita Limbu, Ideal School; Boys – Sagun Man Shrestha, Baba Boarding School.

White House, Naya Bazar enter semis

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KATHMANDU, June 12 : Himalayan White House College maintained perfect record in the National Open Men’s Basketball Championship thrashing Nepal Commerce College (NCC) 122-42 in the quarterfinal played today at the basketball court of Prime College.

Ace basketball player Bipen Maharjan topscored with 32 points for the winning team while captain Sujan Shrestha supported Maharjan netting 26 points.

White House almost clinched the match at the very first quarter netting 28 points against NCC’s four. Maharjan opened the scoring for White House and netted six points in the first quarter while Shrestha fired 14 alone. Likewise, the winning team scored 29 points and gave away 19 points to NCC in the second quarter when senior players were rested.

White House dominance in the match continued after they scored 39 points in the third quarter alone allowing NCC only six points. White House netted 26 points in the last quarter to reach  triple figure in the lopsided quarterfinal affair.

Earlier, in the third quarterfinal of the tournament, Nayabajar Basketball Club (NBC) defeated Brigade Boys Club 64-50.

The winning team looked promising right from the first quarter scoring 16 points against BBC’s four. The remaining three quarters of the match was relatively hard-fought battle but first quarter hiccups cost dear for BBC.

BCC conceded 20 points, just three points more than 17 they scored, in the second quarter. BBC tried their best to close the gap clinching six more points than NBC in the third quarter but the first quarter’s 12 points deficit was beyond the reach of BBC. NBC recovered from their third quarter lapses to score 17 points against BBC’s 12 to seal the match convincingly.

All the semifinals of the tournament will be held on Friday. The Nepal Basketball Association (NBA) will select the best players of this tournament to feature at the NBA Qualifying Game for Mid Asia Zone of Asian Basketball Confederation.

Manang Marsyangdi hit RCT for six

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KATHMANDU, June 12 : Manang Marsyangdi Club (MMC) humiliated traditional powerhouse Rani Pokhari Corner Team (RCT) with a tennis-like 6-0 win today to take pole position in the Martyr’s Memorial ANFA Sanmiguel National League football.

The match went beyond expectations when RCT rookie players scored two goals in their own net. RCT, who managed semifinal spot in Khukuri Cup held last month, were the mere shadow of their past leaving several loopholes in their territory. Though, they produced sporadic moves at MMC area, their strikers failed to convert any.

Both the sides started the match with some attacking moves offering full excitement to the largest crowd so far in the league. It was MMC Nepali international Basanta Thapa who fired home the first in the 21st minute. A solo effort from Deepak Lama saw him drive the ball from the midfield and supply it to unmarked Thapa who directed the ball towards its destination for 1-0 lead.

In the 27th minute Bil Tamang squandered a great opportunity to equalise the score as his mighty drive missed the side bar by a whisker.

MMC, fielding its experienced squad that claimed the Khukuri Cup title last month, made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute to make it difficult for RCT to storm back in the match. Nabin Neupane set an ideal pass to Thapa striking partner Rajan Rayamajhi at the centre. Skillful Rayamajhi dodged dependable Madhu Karki inside the 18-yard area before netting the second goal.

RCT tried their best to stage come-back but their strikers’ woes continued. MMC also created handful of chances but failed to convert all till the halftime.

"We register 6-0 historic victory over RCT but I am not satisfied at all," MMC’s Khukuri Cup winning coach Arjun Lama told The Kathmandu Post. "The way our boys played today disgusted me," he added. Lama pinpoint midfield and front as the area of worry for his team that is considered among best in front and midfield. "RCT are a good team but a bit unlucky today as their strikers were not at the target otherwise they would have created problem for us," he added. He also said that his team would not repeat the mistake they committed on Thursday.

RCT put tremendous effort for the first 15 minutes of the second half but frequent problems at the front forced them to give up. Deepak Lama’s brilliant shot taken from just outside the edge of the 18-yard area in the 60th minute almost decided the fate of the match. Kumar Thapa failed to collect a back pass from Nabin Neupane from the side bar but the ball found Lama who did not commit any mistake to make it 3-0. Defensive blunders presented two goals to MMC in the span of 14 minutes. In his desperate attempt to clear Deepak Lama’s shot at the touch-line, veteran Binod Shahi directed the clearance in his own net in the 68th minute.

In the 82nd minute, new transfer from Kathmandu Club Raghu Prajapati headed inside his own net in one of the worst days for RCT at the Dashrath Stadium. Lama supplied a cross at the penalty area but before goalie Dilip Chettri could collect it, Prajapati raced into the scene and headed inside his own post.

Basanta Thapa put the final nail on the coffin in the injury time making it 6-0. Second half substitute Sujan Gurung supplied him from the right and Thapa coolly headed home the last goal of the match. Thapa is leading the goalscoring chart with five goals in two matches while MMC has gathered six points after two consecutive victories. 

Today’s Match

Naxal vs Sankata