Nepal added eight gold medals to their overnight tally of 15 golds to take gold medal haul to 23 on the third day of the competition at the South Asian Games.

The hosts won two gold and one silver and bronze in taekwondo at the Nepal Taekwondo Academy in Satdobato on Wednesday. Bir Bahadur Mahara and Kajal Shrestha clinched gold medals, while Nima Gurung clinched a silver and Manoj Malla took a bronze medal. Out of 29 medals on offer in taekwondo, contests for 12 gold medals—six each on Wednesday and Thursday.

In karate, Nepal claimed two gold, silver and bronze medals to assert their supremacy over the regional rivals in the martial arts, taking their tally to nine gold, four silver and two bronze medals. Nabin Rasaili and Sanita Maharjan were the gold medalists on the second day of the contest, while Gangaram Kusuwar and Anu Gurung bagged silver. Rajiv Pudasaini and Manisha Chaudhary won bronze.

Bijay Sinjali and Sushmita Tamang won a gold each in wushu changquan. Athlete Santoshi Shrestha claimed a historic gold in the women’s 10,000-metre race, thus becoming the first Nepali athlete to do so in middle distance race at the Games.

Tanka Karki secured a bronze medal in the men's 1,500-metre race.

Himal Tamang secured the second gold for Nepal in triathlon held in Pokhara to add to his victory in duathlon. His national team colleague Laxman Shrestha won silver.

Women's volleyball team came up with a spirited display against top ranked India. But they had to settle for silver after losing the final in five sets.

At the end of the third day, Nepal finished on top of the medal tally with 23 gold, nine silver and 12 bronze. India are second with 15 gold, 16 silver and nine bronze medals, followed by Sri Lanka (5 gold), Pakistan (4), Bangladesh (4) Maldives (1). Bhutan with three bronze are seventh in the table.

Bir Bahadur Mahara, a taekwondo silver medalist in the 12th Games, edged Muhammad Faheem of Pakistan 41-36 to win the men's 68kg final. He had defeated India’s Prithivi Raj Chauhan in the semi-finals. "After losing gold medal clash in the last edition in 2016, I was determined to win gold in the following edition," said Mahara.

Kajal Shrestha got the better of Pakistan’s Syed Zadi Sidra Batool 50-14 in the women's 46kg division. She had overcome India's Radha Bhati in the semi-finals. After securing the top-of-the-podium finish in her category, emotional Shrestha said: "I am not from a well-off family and my parents had struggled a lot to witness this day," she said, with tears rolling down her eyes. "My father has been working in Saudi Arabia for the past 11 years and I want to dedicate this medal to him."

However, there were also disappointments in the Nepal camp. Nima Gurung, one of Nepal’s gold medal hopefuls, failed to live up to expectations as she lost the final bout to Kashish Malik of India 8-7 in women's 57kg category. It was the second occasion she has lost a gold medal clash at the Games after facing similar fate at the 2016 Games.