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

Gurung won a 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 following their 61-17 loss to India in the last four clash.

Gurung had progressed into the final after defeating Kai Yan Ho of Hong Kong 8-4 in the semi-final. In the quarter-final, Gurung had beaten Japan’s Yuzuki Sawae by senshu (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 had won Nepal’s first Asiad silver in taekwondo in the 13th Asian Games held in Thailand in 1998. Nepali paragliding team won a silver in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

“I tried my best in the gold-medal match,” said the 19-year-old Gurung after the match. “I have taken this final bout as a lesson more than a loss. This medal has motivated me even more.”

Gurung added, “I feel very lucky and proud to be able to win a medal for my country. But I have a lot more to do. It’s just a first step.”

Nepal’s Sita Kumari Rai (women’s 60 kg kumite), Sambar Bahadur Gole (men’s 60 kg kumite) and Bimala Tamang (women’s individual kata) had won bronze medals for Nepal in Hiroshima 1994, Bangkok 1998 and Incheon 2014, respectively.

This is also Nepal’s 26th medal overall in the Asian Games history and the first occasion Nepal has more than one more than one medal in the single edition in 17 years. Nepal returned home with a single medal in each of the past three editions (2010 Guangzhou, 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta and Palembang). In Doha 2006, Manita Shahi, Deepak Bista and Ayasha Shakya had won bronze medals in taekwondo.

Nepal has never won a gold in Asian Games.