Kathmandu, January 31

Samrakshyak Bhushan Bajrachaya of Kathmandu and Mayanka Rana of Lalitpur won the titles of the ninth Sahabir Memorial Open Lawn Tennis Tournament here today.

Bajracharya defeated AIA’s Kumar Adhikari 7-5, 7-6 in the men’s singles final, while Rana beat Ganga Sharma of Pokhara 6-4, 6-2 in the women’s singles championship match.

Likewise, Raju Chhetri of Lalitpur won the above-35 veteran singles title with a 4-6, 6-3, 14-12 victory over Shree Ram Magar of Nepal APF Club, while Krishna Raj Ghale of Lalitpur defeated Pratap Moktan of Hetauda 6-4, 6-1 in the above-45 veteran singles final.

Badminton

Ratnajit Tamang and Nabin Shrestha of TAC and Gautam Kathayat of NPC advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals of the 13th Nationwide Krishnamohan Memorial Open Badminton Tournament here today.

In the matches played at the Nepal APF Club covered hall, Tamang defeated APF’s Suman Limbu 21-9, 21-16, while Shrestha beat another APF shuttler Sunil Joshi 21-18, 21-14. Also, Kathayat outplayed his APF teammate Deepak Bohara 21-8, 21-17.

In women’s singles, APF’s Sichhya Shrestha and Megha Chand made it to the semi-finals along with TAC duo Nangshal Devi Tamang and Anumaya Rai. Shrestha defeated her teammate Shova Gauchan 21-10, 21-18, while Chand came from a set down to beat TAC’s Amita Giri 21-23, 21-20, 21-19. Likewise, Tamang dropped the first set to TAC teammate Jessica Gurung before bouncing back to register a 21-23, 21-19, 21-19 victory, while Rai came from a set down to beat her clubmate Sunaina Mukhiya 15-21, 21-18, 21-17.

In the men’s doubles, TAC pairs of Ratnajit Tamang/Nabin Shrestha and Suroj Maharjan/Ram Rai made it to the semi-finals along with APF’s Indra Bahadur Mahata/Bimal Shrestha, Bijit Thapa Magar/Bishal Pradhan and NPC’s Gaurav Dahal/Anis Shrestha made it to the quarter-finals. Likewise, APF pairs of Jibesh Kumar Pandey/Phanendra Bahadur Shahi and Narayan Dutta Paudel/Raju Gautam, and NPC’s Ganesh Chand/Krishna Siwakoti won their matches in the above-35 Master Doubles category.

Volleyball

Nepal APF Club and Nepal Police Club advanced to the semi-finals of the fourth APF IGP National Open Women’s Volleyball Tournament. The hosts APF came from a set down to defeat New Diamond Academy 22-25, 25-12, 25-22, 25-23, while NPC registered double victories to make it to the last four. They beat Western Region 25-12, 25-19, 25-21 and returned to defeat Tribhuvan Army Club 25-20, 25-14, 25-14. The tournaments are organised by Central Sports Committee of Nepal Armed Police Force.

Spelling error

Kathmandu: Central Sports Committee of Nepal APF distributed wrongly imprinted trophies to the winners of the ninth Sahabir Memorial Open Lawn Tennis Tournament. There is LAWAN instead of LAWN in the trophies.