KATHMANDU, Oct 3: Army duo Ratna Jeet Tamang and Dipesh Dhami advanced to the semifinals of the First Zest Open Badminton Tournament in the men's section on Monday. 

In the quarterfinal matches played at Zest's court at Basundhara, Ratna Jeet defeated Gautam Kathayat of Zest in the straight sets of 21-13, 21-12. Similarly, Dipesh overcame Bijit Thapa Magar of another departmental team APF 21-8, 21-14 to book his place in the last four. 

In other quarterfinal matches, Bishnu Katuwal of Nepal Police Club beat Sanjeev Khadka of Kailali 23-21, 21-16 while Bikash Shrestha of Bhojpur defeated Nabin Shrestha of Army 21-14, 21-8 and advanced to the semifinal. 

In the men's doubles of the tournament, the pair of Indra Mahata and Pankaj Chand of APF overcame the pair of Sandip Shrestha and Ritesh Thapa 21-8, 28-1. Similarly, the pair of Bhugol Gurung and Laxman Shrestha of Pokhara defeated the pair of Sunil Joshi and Gautam Kathayat of Zest 17-21, 21-6, 21-15 to confirm their places in the last four. The pair of Ram Rai and Suroj Shrestha of Army beat the pair of Jeewan Acharya and Nir Bikram 21-15, 18-21, 21-12 while the pair of Hira Rai and Gaurabh Dahal overcame the pair of Raj Kumar Pokharel and Resham Pun of Brothers with the scoreline of 24-26, 21-13, 21-19 to book their places in the last four. 
  
Likewise in the women's doubles, the pair of Nangsal Devi Tamang and Anu Maya Rai of the Army team defeated the pair of Sima Paoudel and Swechha Shrestha 21-8, 21-8 and advanced to the semifinal. In the same event, the pair of Sita Rai and Sanjana Sharma of home team Zest beat the pair of Shova Gauchan and Durga Sharma 18-21, 21-16, 21-15 while another Army duo Amita Giri and Megha Chand overcame the pair of Punam Gurung and Yamu Gurung 21-19, 16-21, 21-14 and confirmed their places in the last four.

Similarly, the pair of Puja Shrestha and Sikshya Shrestha of APF defeated the pair of Jessica Gurung and Sunaina Mukhiya 21-16, 21-11 to book their places in the semifinal. 
In the master's doubles 35 plus event, the pair of Nar Bahadur Gurung and Shambu Shrestha of Pokhara, the pair of Shyam Parajuli and Nabin Babu Shrestha of Annapurna, the pair of Subash Shrestha and Bhumi Raj Gurung of Army and the pair of Jitendra Sharma and Basanta Bajracharya entered the semifinals. 

Similarly, in the master's doubles 45 plus, the pair of Subash Shrestha and Bhumi Raj Gurung of Army, the pair of Prem Shrestha and Ballav Maharjan of APF, the pair of Shyam Parajuli and Nabin Babu Shrestha of Annapurna and the pair of Raju Thapa and Sudin Shakya of Lalitpur also made it to the last four of the tournament. 

In the U-15 event, Prince Dahal of Zest, Dhiraj Shrestha and Bidhan Adhikari of Pokhara and Kshitij Thapa of Lalitpur progressed to the semifinal. 

All the semifinals and the final match of the tournament will be held on Tuesday, according to the organizer Zest Badminton Academy.  

 
• army
 
• ratna jeet tamang
 
• dipesh dhami
 
• first zest open badminton tournament