Nepal wins two medals in the Asian Games, sets records in Cricket

A jumbo Nepali squad returned home from Hangzhou, China, with just two medals—one silver and one bronze. But the Nepali cricket team set several world records while it played with Mongolia.

Arika Gurung became the first Nepali karateka to win a silver medal in the history of the Asian Games.

Gurung won the rare silver medal after losing her women’s 68 kg Kumite gold-medal bout to Sofya Berultseva of Kazakhstan 3-0 at the Linping Sports Center in Hangzhou.

This is the first silver and second medal for Nepal at the Asian Games 2022. Nepal’s kabaddi women’s team bagged a bronze medal on Friday.

Gurung had progressed into the final after defeating Kai Yan Ho of Hong Kong 8-4 in the semi-final. In the quarterfinal, Gurung beat Japan’s Yuzuki Sawae by Senshi (first unopposed point advantage) after their score was tied 1-1 at the end of the match.

It is also Nepal’s only third-ever silver medal at the Asian Games. Sabita Rajbhandari won Nepal’s first Asiad silver in taekwondo in the 13th Asian Games held in Thailand in 1998. The Nepali paragliding team won a silver in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

Despite the dismal performance despite spending a whopping Rs. 400 million to participate in the Asian Games, Nepal made headlines as the cricket team set several new records. Nepal became the first men’s team in the history of cricket to score more than 300 runs in a T20 international as they rewrote the record books against Mongolia.

Nepal bludgeoned 314 for three in their 20 overs in Hangzhou on September 27, surpassing the previous highest of 278 for three by Afghanistan against Ireland in 2019. Kushal Malla, batting at number three, led the way, cracking the fastest T20 international century – off just 34 balls.

He was followed by Dipendra Singh Airee, who finished the innings in ridiculous fashion against the hapless Mongolian bowlers, hitting eight sixes in an unbeaten 52 off just 10 balls.

He reached his 50 off nine balls, another world record, beating India’s Yuvraj Singh’s 2007 effort against England which took 12 balls.

The statistics from Nepal's performance are truly mind-boggling. Their 26 sixes in the innings set a new world record, eclipsing Afghanistan's 22 against Ireland. Mongolia, facing this relentless onslaught, could only manage 41 runs in 13.1 overs before being dismissed. Nepal's winning margin of 273 runs was the largest ever recorded in a men's T20 international, surpassing the Czech Republic's 257run victory over Turkey in 2019.