After winning the title of U-16 boys´ singles a day ago, Ivanhoe claimed his second title in the U-14 boys´ singles at the Satdobato Tennis Complex without hitting a single shot. [break]His opponent Abhaya Gauchan retired after picking injury in the warm-up match. Gauchan had sustained shoulder injury while playing against Lissanevitch in Friday´s title match, according to tennis coach Krishna Ghale.
Meanwhile, title favorite Aslesha defeated Bibhuti Karki 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets to claim the girls´ title.
In another match of the day, Mayanka Rana won the U-12 girls´ singles title after her opponent, Anne Mathema, retired hurt in the third set.
Rana had won the first set of the entertaining match 6-4 only to see Mathema back in contention with a 5-7 fightback in the second set. However, Mathema lost her momentum after a boil in her right hand prevented her from playing to her capacity. She was trailing 5-2 in the third set when she decided to quit the game.
Samyak Bhushan Bajracharya clinched the U-10 boys´ singles title defeating Sulav Dhital 8-4 in the final.
Altogether 112 boys and 65 girls had competed in five different age group categories each in boys´ and girls´ singles for a total of ten golds. Major General Pawan Bahadur Pandey distributed prizes to the winners on the closing day of the eight-day tournament.
The winners and runners-up of U-16 singles received the highest cash prize of Rs 22,500 and Rs 11,500 respectively in both boys´ and girls´ categories. There were also cash prize for the winners and runners-up of other age groups.
Ghale felicitated
Man-Jayakar Tennis Academy, organizer of the tournament, felicitated coach Krishna Ghale for his long-standing contribution to the development of tennis in Nepal. Major General Pandey handed over a letter of appreciation to Ghale on the occasion.
Ghale, who has been involved in Nepali tennis for 35 years, had competed in the Seoul Asiad in 1986 and the Beijing Asiad in 1990. The Nepali team, which included Ghale, had reached the quarterfinals of the Seoul Asiad. Ghale also represented Nepal in the 1993 South Asian Games in Dhaka and the 1995 SAG in Madras (now Chennai). He had secured silver medals in the second and third National Games respectively.
“I am really grateful and would like to thank all those who proposed my name for this felicitation,” said the 52-year-old Ghale, adding, “Today I have become a true champion.”
Durga Prasad Dulal of National Sports Council was also felicitated on the occasion.
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