Saksham Karki and Sangita Bashyal clinched a gold each in taekwondo on Wednesday, as Nepal extended their medal haul in the martial arts category at the ongoing South Asian Games with eleven gold, three silver and nine bronze medals.

Among the 29 golds on offer in taekwondo, the last six will be contested on Thursday.

Karki secured top finish in the men's above 87kg weight division in the match held at the Nepal Taekwondo Academy in Satdobato, Lalitpur. He registered a comfortable 27-9 win over Wakar Ali of Pakistan in the final. Balapatiyage Bless of Sri Lanka and Chaitanya Vijay of India settled for bronze.

"I am one of the most experienced players in the team, and I was under pressure to win after some of the medal hopefuls including Manoj Malla and Nima Gurung lost their final bouts," the 23-year old said. Winning the gold medal at home, Karki said, was the best moment for him.

He credited training in China and inspiration from legendary taekwondo player Deepak Bista as the major factors for his success.

Meanwhile, Bashyal claimed gold in the women's U-62 kg category, defeating Gangajot Gill of India in the final. Soya Sabir of Pakistan and Maneesha Samrajeewa of Sri Lanka took bronze. "I failed to play as per the game plan due to pressure, as many home players lost their bouts today. But I had said to myself that I must win and the gold is a big achievement for me."
Nepal's Olympian Nisha Rawal failed to live up to the expectations. She lost the women's over 73kg bout final against India's Rodali Baruwa 32-9.
Chalinda Sampath of Sri Lanka defeated Sourav of India in the men's U-63 kg final after they were tied on 18 points. In the tie-breaker, Sampath earned two points.
Gyanendra Hamal of hosts Nepal and Hemhood Khan of Pakistan were the joint bronze medalists.
The men's U-74kg division saw Jarnel Singh of India beat Jarban Khan of Pakistan 41-26. Nischal Shrestha of Nepal and Darshana Kumara of Sri Lanka won bronze medals.
In the women's U-53kg category, Latika Bhandari of India got the better of Aneila Ayesha Afsar of Pakistan with the score tally of 40-10. Nepal's Ashmita Khadka and Dasuana Nimesha of Sri Lanka finished with bronze.

More glory in Wushu

Deepak Hamal secured third wushu gold for Nepal on Wednesday. He scored 19.32 points in nangun taolu to finish ahead of India's Sajan Lama who collected 19.12 points. Bangladesh's Md Amir Hossain took home bronze medal.

Sri Lanka's Tharidu Namal Anuratha won gold in the men's taolu taijijian in the game marred by controversial referee decision. Nepal's coach Ambar Thing and India's coach protested against the decision, claiming that the judgment was unfair and the Sri Lankan should have finished fourth.

After spectators hurled bottles at the Army's covered hall in Lagankhel, the game was briefly interrupted, calling for police intervention.
Anuratha was given 18.9 points while silver medalist Gyanendra Singh got 18.76 points. Nepal's Hari Prasad Gole garnered 18.49 points to finish with bronze medal.

Bijay Tamang and Sushmita Tamang had won wushu gold on Tuesday.