Palesha Goverdhan faces defeat in quarterfinal

KATHMANDU: Palesha Goverdhan has faced defeat in the quarterfinal of the Women’s 57 kg K-44 taekwondo event in 2024 Paris Paralympics. Goverdhan narrowly lost to Brazil’s Silvana Fernandes with a score of 10-8 in a nail-biting match on Friday.

Goverdhan was holding an 8-6 lead against her No. 1 ranked opponent until the final 17 seconds. However, Silvana scored four points after that, including two in the last two seconds, to win the fight.

She had progressed to the quarterfinal with an easy 31-0 victory over Morales Valeria of Venezuela in the Round of 16 match earlier on the day.

Goverdhan will now participate in repechage competitions for the bronze medal.

Goverdhan also competed in the Tokyo Paralympics and secured a bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Games.