KATHMANDU, June 30:Nepali shuttlers are all set to compete in the US Open Grand Prix Badminton Championship to be held in California, USA, from July 5 to 10.
The Nepali team consists of Tamang siblings - Nangsal Devi and Ratnajeet, the top ranked female and male shuttlers of Nepal and number two male player Bikash Shrestha. Nepal Badminton Association Vice President Subhash Shrestha will be accompanying players as the team leader.
Nepali shuttlers to compete in US Open Grand Prix
Nepal will be participating in the championship after eight years. The 2008 edition of the tournament saw participation of then top Nepali players including the top two male players Pashupati Paneru and Balaram Thapa and women's number one Sumina Shrestha. All of them later settled in the USA.
Both Ratnajit and Bikash will compete in men's singles and doubles events while Nangsal will compete in women's singles and also pair with Bikash for mixed doubles.
Nepal Badminton Association officials including President Ramji Bahadur Shrestha, Vice President Uday Shrestha, General Secretary Birendra Shrestha and deputy director of training department at the National Sports Council Arjun BK among others bade farewell to the team.
Kawasaki sponsors sports kits
Sports gear producer Kawasaki has sponsored participants of the US Open Grand Prix with sports gear worth Rs 120,000. Anil Jagnani of Axis International, Kawasaki's authorized dealer in Nepal, handed over sports kits including racket, shoes and others gears worth Rs 40,000 each to the players.
Earlier, Kawasaki had sponsored sports kits for Bikash for three years from 2011 to 2013. Similarly, it had sponsored all three with sports kits for 2014 and 2015.
