Suwal defeated teammate Rakesh Maharjan 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 in the first match of the group stage and thrashed Bibek Kawan of Bhaktapur 11-2, 11-6, 11-3 in the second match on Friday to reach the last 16. Nihal Shrestha of Kaski also won both his men´s singles matches in Group A. Shrestha defeated Kawan 10-12, 13-11, 12-10, 11-6 and struggled past Maharjan 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8. [break]
Likewise, Deep Saun, Purushottam Bajracharya, Amar Lal Malla and Mani Kumar Lama of NPC, and Shiva Sundar Gothe and Chandan Shahi of Nepal APF Club won two matches each on the opening day.
Saun struggled past Pradeep Rokka 9-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 12-10 and defeated Sujan Manandhar 11-8, 11-4, 11-9, while Bajracharya registered a 11-2, 11-2, 10-12, 11-2 victory over Avay Shrestha before defeating Tendi Sherpa 11-7, 11-7, 11-4. Likewise, Malla toiled hard to beat Ganesh Tamang 11-2, 11-6, 8-11, 10-12, 11-4 and edged past Samyog Sharma 11-4, 11-7, 11-5. Lama won his first match against Santosh Kafle 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 and thrashed Niresh Karki 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 in the second.
Likewise, Gothe started with a hard-fought 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-2 win over Binesh Khaniya and edged past Ritiz Joshi 11-2, 11-7, 12-10. Shahi toiled hard to beat Piyush Awal 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6 but registered a comfortable 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 win over Rukesh Sujakhu.
Ranjit Singh Rayamajhi also registered two consecutive victories on Friday. He crushed Prajwal Shrestha 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 and defeated Suil Maharjan 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8.
In the women´s singles, Nabita Shrestha thrashed Norden Tamang 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 in her first match and beat Sonu Magar 13-11, 11-8, 11-6 in the second.
Swechchha Nembang and Elena Maharjan of NPC also won both their matches on Friday. Nembang defeated Rabina Desar 11-8, 14-12, 11-7 and Renuka Rana Magar 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7.
Likewise, Maharjan thrashed Gita Aryal 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 in her first match and crushed Nikita Khwanju 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 in the second.
Selisha Khadgi of Kathmandu struggled past Sukriti Shrestha 19-17, 11-8, 12-14, 8-11, 11-7 before dispatching Nikita Adhikari 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 in the second match.
Manita Chitrakar, Rita Prajapati, Kajol Rauniyar and Reshma Rasaili also won two matches each on Friday. Chitrakar thrashed Anima Adhikari 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 and Lasata Maharjan 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, while Prajapati struggled past Erika Maharjan 11-5, 4-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9 and thrashed Manju Suwal 11-5, 11-3, 11-1. Rauniyar eased past Sunita Lama 11-1, 11-5, 11-6 in her first match but was made to work hard for a 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9 victory over Suravi Thapa. Rasaili beat Rabina Maharjan 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5 and defeated Sujata Duwal 11-4, 4-11, 11-8, 11-8.
The selection tournament features 18 players each in both men´s and women´s sections selected from the recently held pre-qualifiers along with the top 14 players of the 35th National Table Tennis Tournament in each section. The tournament, organized by All Nepal Table Tennis Association, is being held in league-cum-knockout format.
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