APF badminton, lawn tennis kick off

KATHMANDU, April 3: The 12th edition of Nationwide Krishna Mohan Memorial Badminton Championship and Eighth Sahabir Memorial Open Lawn Tennis Championship kicked off on Sunday at Armed Police Force (APF) headquarters in Halchowk, Kathmandu.

The events are being organized by the Central Sports Committee of APF.

Badminton

Pankaj Chand and Indra Mahata of APF and Irfan Ansari of Banke made winning starts in the men's singles event. Pankaj edged past Bishal Tamang of Sunsari 21-10, 21-13 and Indra saw off Bodhraj Shrestha of Dhanusa 21-5, 21-11 in straight sets. Irfan overcame Santosh Kautwal of Mahottari 21-10, 21-10.

Similarly, Sujan Shrestha of Sunsari beat Ashish Bhattarai of Jhapa 21-6, 21-11. Similarly, Surendra Budathoki of APF beat Biru KC of Nawalparasi and Jeevan Acharya of Khotang beat Mahendra Dhakal of APF 21-18, 19-21, 21-11. Similarly, APF players Suman Limbu, Joseph Adhikar and Tirtha Malla all registered straight sets wins over their opponents while Rupak Thing of APF and Man Kumar Limbu enjoyed walkovers.

Similarly, men's doubles event saw Suvash Dahal and Thir Bahadur Karki's pair of APF, Minesh Gurung and Man Kumar Limbu's pair and Mahendra Dhakal and Surendra Budathoki's pair of APF secure their places in the next round after winning their respective matches. Also Bishal Tamang and Sujan Shreshtha's pair of Sunsari, Ramesh Shrestha and Tirtha Malla's pair of APF, Kanchan Singh Thagunna and Sanjeev Khadka's pair of Kailali, Ram Lama and Sanjeev Sedai's pair of APF, Bhimsen Lama and Sajan Shrestha's pair of Ramechhap, Ajay Shrestha and Bishal Khadka's pair of Sunsari advanced to the next round.

Badminton carries total cash prize of Rs 740,000.

Lawn Tennis

Anne Mathema, Bhagawati BK, Ganga Sharma and Mahika Rana won their respective women's singles matches in lawn tennis. Anne overcame Khushi Pandey 6-1, 6-0, Bhagawati beat Saloni Tamang 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, Ganga edged past Anushka Malla 6-0, 6-1 and Mahika registered double bagel win over Rayana Shah.

In the men's singles events, Bajracharya siblings Samrakshak Bhusan and Samyak Bhusan registered wins in the first round. Samrakshak edged past Ranjan Shrestha 6-0, 6-4 and Samyak registered a three-set victory of 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 over Nabin Shrestha. Similarly, Anil Chhetri beat Bivek Shrestha 6-1, 6-3, Raj Kumar Lama beat Rishi Ram Sigdel 6-4, 6-1, Pranab Khanal beat Avinab Acharya 6-1, 6-3. Bikash Khadka and Abesh Bahadur Malla also emerged victorious in their singles matches while Saksham Karki and Krishna Magar enjoyed walkovers.

Lawn Tennis carries cash prize of Rs 678,000.