Maharjan defeated Pankaj Thakur of Naxal in the first round bout in National Table Tennis Training Center, Lainchaur while Prakash Kumar Bista edged past Top Bahadur Bista of Kailali.
In the same weight category, Nepal Army´s Prem Chaudhary and Subash BK as well as Chandra Jyoti Thapa of Dang won their respective matches on Tuesday to reach quarterfinals.[break]
In men´s light flyweight (46-49 kg) category, Niranjan Shrestha of Makawanpur and Laxmi Prasad Duwal of Bhaktapur reached quarterfinal. Shrestha defeated Resham Shahi of Nepal Army in a controversial match while Duwal beat Yagya Raj Chaudhary of Banke in easy fashion. Army officials protested the judges´ decision to the jury after Nepal Boxing Association officials assured them of a video-review of the match by Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, Bharat Saud (Kailali), Om Bahadur Pun and Dipendra Bakhunchein of Nepal Army and Dinesh Shrestha of Nepal Police secured their places in the quarterfinals of men´s bantam weight (56kg) category.
Likewise, Sunil Thapa of Kathmandu, Surendra Karki of Tikathali and Ek Bahadur Ghale of Nepal Army reached quarterfinals of men´s light welterweight (64kg) category.
Nepal Chamber of Commerce President Surendra Basnet inaugurated the four-day tournament, participated by 85 men and 30 women pugilists. The male boxers will vie for 10 gold medals and female boxers will contest for seven gold medals in the tournament.
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