Tuesday was a golden day for karate as Bangladesh bagged three gold medals, but the next day was unfortunately a depressing one not because of the performance but for gold-medalist Marzan Akter Priya, who left the met during the semi-final of the team event before being taken to hospital.
Priya recovered well soon and was released from the Red Cross hospital in the evening, but it presumably cost karate another gold, as claimed by Bangladesh Karate Federation general secretary Kyaw Shwe Hla.
Women's kumite team comprising Mounjera Borna, Priya and Humaira Akther Antara managed to beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in the semi-final, despite losing Priya in the middle.
Borna also got injured with a punch on her head but still managed to win the first game by 8-4 points.
All of Bangladesh’s four gold medals so far in the ongoing 13th South Asian Games came from the two martial art sports, already equaling the number of golds won in the last edition.https://t.co/8BV9Kq32fQ#KARATE #BANGLADESH #BANGLADESHKARATE #SOUTHASIANGAMES #SAG #BKF
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 4, 2019
Priya was knocked out injured after being hit below her ear by the opponent.
She was brought out of the met immediately and taken to the hospital via ambulance.
The medical in-charge of the Emergency, Dr. Prajwal Man Shreshtha, and his team investigated her and provided some painkillers because of the pain on her head and neck.
Dr. Abhishek Chaturbedi, senior consultant neurosurgeon, inspected Priya later with a CT scan after which the doctor said there is nothing to be worried about.
After a gold drought in 2016, a new generation of karate girls – Humaira Akhter Antara and Marzan Akter Priya – lived up to the karate girls’ legacy by winning a couple of golds in style at the 13th SAG in Kathmandu Tuesday.https://t.co/1fTNTen3c1#SOUTHASIANGAMES #SOUTH #SAG
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 3, 2019
After observing for two more hours, Priya was released.
Antara won the last game of the semi-final by 4-1 points to set up a final fixture against Pakistan.
Naima Khatun, who replaced Priya in the final, conceded a humiliating defeat against heavy-weighted Pakistani opponent by 14-4 points.
Borna lost the opening set 6-4 but Antara won comfortably by 7-3 points as Bangladesh lost the final 2-1.
Bangladeshi karatekas Al Amin Islam, Marzan Akter Priya and Humaira Akhter Antara each bagged a gold medal for their country on the third day of the 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal Tuesday.https://t.co/9HdScGrRp7#BANGLADESH #SOUTHASIANGAMES #BOA #SAG #PRIYA #ANTARA
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 4, 2019
“We unfortunately lost out on a gold as a result of Priya’s injury. Borna also played with injury. It could have been a different scene in the final if Priya was there,” said the karate federation GS.
The injury of Priya and the consequences also weighed heavily on the other athletes, coaches and officials for the most part of the day.
Karate however, concluded its events with a total of 18 medals, including three golds, three silvers and 12 bronzes, most than any other sports so far.
Along with women’s karate team’s silver, the men’s team won a bronze, while Sobuz Miah and Abida Sultana claimed bronze in the men's 50kg kumite and women's 68+kg kumite events respectively Wednesday.
