Medal-Winning Karate Players Return Home
The Nepali team, including players who successfully won medals at international karate competitions held in two different cities in Japan, returned home on Tuesday.
The team—comprising medalists from the 20th Asian Games held in Nagoya, Japan, from September 20 to 23, and the 11th Shito-Ryu Karate-Do International Championship held in Yokohama from September 25 to 27—landed at Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday night at 10:51 PM. Eight players (3 men and 5 women) from Nepal competed in both tournaments. The same players who competed in the Asiad also participated in the Yokohama championship.
In the Asian Games karate event, only Tenzing Sherpa won a medal for Nepal. He secured a bronze medal in the men’s +84 kg category. Tenzing’s medal was the first won by Nepal at the 20th Asiad. In the bronze medal match, Tenzing confirmed his medal by defeating a player from Laos with a score of 9–1.
Overall, Tenzing is the fifth player to secure a medal for Nepal in karate at the Asiad. Previously, karate had brought home 1 silver and 3 bronze medals in Asian Games history: Sita Rai won bronze at the 1994 Hiroshima Asiad, Samar Bahadur Gole won bronze at the 1998 Bangkok Asiad, Bimala Tamang won bronze at the 2014 Incheon Asiad, and Erika Gurung won silver at the 2022 Hangzhou Asiad.
In the Yokohama tournament, where all eight players competed, Nepal won a total of 6 medals: 2 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze. Nepal achieved 4 of these medals in individual events and 2 in team events.
Erika Gurung won gold for Nepal in the women’s +68 kg category, while Rakesh Manandhar claimed gold in the men’s -60 kg category. Nirupa Dong Tamang secured a silver medal in the women’s -68 kg event, and Min Bahadur Tamang won bronze in the men’s -67 kg category.
Erika and Nirupa, who became double medalists, also won a bronze medal in the women’s team kumite. Alongside them, Megha Limbu, Alisha Raskoti Magar, and Sanumaya Thing competed in this event. Megha, Alisha, and Sanumaya also earned a bronze medal in the women’s team kata.
After participating in the Asian Games, the Nepali contingent traveled from Nagoya to Yokohama for the second championship.
Medalist Tenzing thanked everyone who supported him, including the Bouddha Dojo where he started his karate journey, adding that he still has a long way to go.
The team was welcomed at the airport by National Sports Council (NSC) Member-Secretary Ramcharitra Mehta, Ministry of Youth and Sports Chief Advisor Siddhi Byanjankar and Advisor Raju Singh, NSC Executive Committee Member Sikka Suwal Shrestha, NSC Members Monalisha Khambu and Lalita Nath, officials of the Nepal Karate Federation, players, coaches, family members, and well-wishers.
Along with the players, team manager and Karate Federation President Yubraj Lama, Karate Federation General Secretary Dawa Gurung, and coaches Kushal Shrestha and Manday Kaji Shrestha also returned home.
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