Competing in below-52kg weight category in the women’s sansau, Gurung made light work of Aaegul Rahimova of Turkmenistan 2-0. She will now take on Aleha Mansoriansamiromi of Iran in the quarter-final on Monday.

“Technically my game was very good and I was able to keep the opponent under pressure for two rounds,” said Gurung, who had won bronze medal in the Asian Championships held in Philippines two yeas ago.

“I came here to win a medal for the country. I will give my best effort in the quarter-final and will once again concentrate on showcasing my technical skills.” A win in the quarter-final will ensure at least a bronze medal for her. Another wushu player Mangal Tharu went down 2-0 against Narendra Grawal of India in his first round bout.

In badminton, Nepal No. 1 Ratnajit Tamang, Bikash Shrestha and Sajan Krishna Tamrakar registered a 3-0 win over Macao in the men’s team event. Tamang downed Chi Wai Wan 21-12, 21-16, Shrestha defeated Lu Liwung 21-11, 21-16 and Tamrakar beat Hok Man Lou 12-21, 21-4, 21-18. They will now square off with Malaysia in the quarter-finals.

The women’s team, consisting of Saradevi Tamang, Nangsal Devi Tamang and Sikshya Shrestha, succumbed to a 3-0 loss against Malaysia. Sara Devi, the top ranked female shuttler in the country, displayed the worst performance among the three.

Sara slumped to 21-4 defeat in the first set against Li Liyang Yan and went down 21-11 in the second. Her younger sister Nangsal also had a dismal showing going down 21-2, 21-7 against Yin Fan Lim. Teen shuttler Sikhsya put on a much improved performance but that was not enough to avert a 21-13, 21-9 loss against Chu Sin Lim.

The women’s tennis team, including Rana twins Mahika and Mayanka, lost 3-0 against Chin Wai Chan and Su Wai Saye  of Chinese Taipei. Mayanka failed to earn a single point as she crashed to a 6-0, 6-0 defeat to Chin Wai Chan while her sister Mahika lost 6-0, 6-1 against Su Wai. In the women’s doubles, the duo of Bhibhuti Karki and Bijisha Shrestha went down 6-0, 6-0 to Ho Ching Chan andYoung Jin Chan.

Judo players put on a spirited performance but expecting medals was still a far cry for them.  Saroj Maharjan (below 60kg), Ramesh Magar (below 66kg) and Munima Devi Khadka (below 52kg) bowed out from the first round. Saroj failed to break his losing streak against Chyunghyok Kim of North Korea. Saroj had lost to the same opponent in the Asian Martial Arts Games in 2009 and 2013.

Despite the loss Saroj said that his performance has improved in the Asian Games. “This is the third time I have lost to him. But today I was able to put on a better performance. In the past, I could not fight him for more than a few seconds. But today I was almost par to him. We were at equal footing when I lost the match. I had the first opportunity to try and grip him but unfortunately I could not do it,” explained Saroj.

Both Saroj and Ramesh were able to hold on for a little more than two minutes in the mat. The stipulated time is five minutes. Khadka, playing her first international match, was defeated by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Kalpana Devi Thaudam.

Jangam Giri and Omkar Singh were out of the preliminary round of men’s fencing. Giri was knocked out by Jung Jin San of South Korea and Lu Min of Singapore without earning a single point. Giri displayed better performance and went on to defeat Kuwait and Malaysia with the score of 5-2 but was eventually knocked out of the event. Singh lost to UAE and Hong Kong.