Successful Nepali karate player Erika Gurung failed to qualify for the World Karate Championship on Saturday. Erika lost to Austrian rival Laura Ziller by a score of 5-2 in the round of 16 of the championship qualifiers being held in Paris, France. Erika lost the match despite taking an early lead.

According to her coach Kushal Shrestha, Erica was playing well. She was also taking the lead and when she lost her composure a little, Erica had to face an unexpected kick from Lora. Lora got a chance to take the lead.

If Erica, the historic silver medalist of the Asian Games, had won this match, she would have played in the 27th Karate World Championship to be held in Cairo, Egypt from November 27 to 30. The participation of one player from Nepal in the World Championship has already been confirmed. Sanumaya Thing has been selected directly. Sanumaya will participate in the women's single kata.

Four players from Nepal, including Erica, participated in the Paris qualifiers. Now one player's competition is on Sunday. Sabina Shrestha will play in the women's under 55 kg weight category. She has 46 opponents in her weight category. Sabina, who is in Group 8, is scheduled to play against Montenegro's Helena Backovic and Chinese Taipei's Taisui-Ping Koo in the preliminary round.

Women's under 50 kg Varsha Budhamagar and men's singles kata wrestler Swanim Manandhar were eliminated in the early stages. In the early stages of her weight category, Varsha lost to Samina Yelchin of the Netherlands 3-0, Insaf Bentma Serukh Jebari of Spain 2-1, and Irene Kontou of Cyprus 3-0. Varsha, who was in Group 8, could not advance to the next round. There were 38 competitors in Varsha's weight category.

In men's singles kata, Swanim won one match. He defeated Mikhail Mkhitaryan of Armenia. Swanim scored 37.90 points while Mikhail scored 37.30 points. Swanim scored 37.10 points in his match against Thomas Kemz of France. Thomas, who scored more points than him, won the match with 38.80 points. Out of 49 competitors, he was placed in Group 3. Thomas advanced from his group.

Erica's winning journey in Paris

In the women's 68 kg weight category, Erica came close to qualifying by winning three matches in the preliminary round. She defeated Slovenia's Maria Gibret Jala (ranked 33rd in the DLUKF) 2-0, Malaysia's Mirza Amira Suhada Binti Faisal 6-0, and Brazil's experienced and WKF 48th ranked Brenda Pereira 1-0. Out of 34 competitors, Erica was placed in Group 4. She qualified for the second round by winning her group.

Erica, who received the title of 'Himalayan Warrior' from the Nepal Karate Federation, has brought valuable medals to Nepali karate in the last two years. She has won medals that Nepali karate could not win before. Just two weeks ago, she won gold in the Karate One Premier League in Malaysia.

The top 6 players in each weight group from the Paris selection will book their tickets to Cairo. 24 players from each event have already been selected for the World Championship before the selection. 32 players will be able to participate in one event. Two players will be selected from the university quota. 549 players are participating in the selection, which includes 12 different events.