KATHMANDU, July 12: The pair of Neer Bikram Devkota and Jeevan Acharya of Tribhuvan University (TU) made it to the men's doubles badminton final in the first Prime Minister Cup University Level National Sports that kicked off in the capital on Monday.

The duo, who also made it to the men's singles semifinals, overcame the pair of Lochan Raj Neupane and Denny Khatri of Purwanchal University (PU) in straight sets of 21-3, 21-11.

In the women's doubles events, the pair of Ganga Bista and Hema Joshi of Far Western University (FWU) made it to the final. The duo saw off pair of Anju Subedi and Nita Pokharel from PU in straight sets of 21-15, 21-15.   

Along with Neer Bikram and Jeevan of TU, Rikesh Shrestha and Bhupendra Giri of KU also booked places in the last four of men's singles event. In women's singles event, Ganga of SPU, Asmita Subedi and Soniya Gurung of Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) and Gyanu Giri of KU secured places in the semifinals.  

In the men's volleyball, TU and Mid Western University (MWU) made winning starts. In the event played at the National Sports Council, Tripureshwar, TU registered a five-set win of 26-24, 25-13, 18-25, 19-25, 18-16 over FWU. Similarly, MWU pulled a straight sets win of 25-23, 25-19, 25-23 over KU.

KU and TU emerged victorious in the men's basketball played at the NSC semi covered hall. KU edged past AFU 70-25 and TU overcame PU 50-35.

In the men's singles table tennis played at the National Table Tennis Training Center in Lainchaur, Abin Prajapati of KU, Anish Shakya of AFU, Prabesh Neupane of PU and Sujan Panta of KU advanced into the semifinals winning their respective matches. Similarly, the women's singles table tennis event saw Deepika Shreshta of KU, Devaki Bhatta of FWU, Rejsa Koteja of KU and Nisha Shrestha of AFU book semifinal berths.

Earlier, Minister for Youth and Sports Satya Narayan Mandal inaugurated the event amidst a function at the NSC premises. The three-day event will feature 207 players of eight universities across the country competing in five different games.

 
• neer bikram devkota
 
• jeevan acharya
 
• men's doubles badminton final
 
• first prime minister cup university level national sports