Japan, Sept. 23 -- Karateka Tenzing Sherpa won Nepal's first medal at the 20th Asian Games, beating Laos' Xayasan Vatthana 9-1 in the repechage at the Toyohashi Gymnasium on Wednesday.

Sherpa constructed his 9-point tally through one high-value Ippon (3 points) and six individual Yuko strikes (6 points) to secure the bronze medal. The medal is Nepal's first at the Asian Games being held in Nagoya, Japan.

Sherpa was the only Nepali karateka still in contention for a medal after seven members of the eight-player contingent were eliminated from their respective events.

Sherpa had a challenging start to the event against Macau's On Tek Leong in the men's kumite +84kg quarterfinal bout. But it seemed that a bit of luck was on Nepali karate'...