To make the matter worst, a Sepak Takraw player has defected the team. Rai advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the 56kg bout after knocking out Yaha Hassan of Saudi Arabia 3-0.

Rai said that he was able to take the centre stage as his opponent was weaker in comparison. Coach Om Maskey said Rai was not able to make full use of his potential. Rai will now fight for a place in the quarter-finals with Mirayo Fernando of Philippines on Friday. Another boxer Purna Bahadur Lama lost the 60kg bout to Akhil Kumar of India. The Nepali boxer was declared technically knocked out after one minute and 34 seconds in the third round.

In tennis, it was business as usual as players once again lost in straight sets. Ani Mathema lost to Fatima Tajib of Oman while Bibhuti Karki was defeated by Serma Ali Abddullah of Yemen. In men’s singles, Samrakshyan Bhusan Bajracharya lost to Jawar Mohammad of Qatar and Santosh Khatri fell to Abdullah Ahmed, both in straight sets. The women’s doubles team of twin Rana sisters, Mayanka and Mahika lost against, Irdeserun and Jargal Altansaranai of Mangolia in straight sets.

Nepal No. 1 shuttler Ratnajit Tamang at least had the consolation of putting on a fight before eventually losing to Mohammad Irfan Shahid of Pakistan 21-16, 20-22, 19-21.  Both men’s and women’s team crashed out of the first round.

In the women’s doubles, Tamang sisters — Sara Devi and Nangsal — went down 4-21, 13-21 to Susi Rujki Andani and Tiyera Rosaliya Nuradhan of Indonesia. Sikshya Shrestha and Poonam Gurung lost 6-21, 4-21 against Pradna Garde and Sikki Reddy of India. Ratnajit and Bishnu Katuwal lost 14-21, 13-21 to Allan Yun Chang and Chuk Him La as duo of Bikash Shrestha and Sajan Krishna Tamrakar lost 11-21, 6-21 against Chun Hai Reginald Li and Chun Man Tangsang of Hong Kong.

Archers continued the trend of disappointing Nepali performance. In the men’s individual recurve round, Jit Bahadur Moktan (1,231 points) finished 42nd followed by Ramesh Bhattachan (1,180) in 53rd, Prem Prasad Pun (1,143 points) in 57th and Asim Sherchan (953 points) in 68th.

In the women’s category of the same event, Iesha Tamang scored 1137 points to finish in the 49th spot. Other archers Monika Rana Magar (1123 points) ended up 51st, Krishna Maya Syangtan in 54th and Renu Lama in 56th.

The women’s cricket team lost their quarter-final match against Bangladesh by 81 runs on Wednesday. Sent in to bat, a half century from Ayasha Rahman (51 not out) helped Bangladesh put on 107-4 in 20 overs. Nepal in reply were bowled out for 26 in 15.2 overs, 10 of those runs coming courtesy extras.  

Skipper Rubina Chhetry had very little to say after the embarrassing defeat. “We lost due to poor batting,” Chhetry said. “We are always going to end up with similar outcome if we take to the field without proper training and exposure.” Sita Rana Magar and Sarita Magar claimed two wickets each for Nepal.