Pahadi lost the first set 4-6 but made a comeback in the close contest to win the remaining sets 7-5, 6-4 in the U-12 boys´ singles category. [break]
Top seeded Mayanka Rana eased past Mina Magar 6-1, 6-1 in her opening match of the U-12 girls´ singles section while her twin sister, seeded second, handed a double bagel to Radha Bhujel in the matches held at the Satdobato Tennis Court, Lalitpur.
Riyasha Baidhya had a mixed result as she registered an easy 6-2, 6-1 win over Amisha Rayamajhi before being knocked out by Cathy Mathema 6-2, 6-0.
Khushi Pandey registered twin wins in the first day of the tournament, which carries the highest cash prize in the history of Nepali tennis. Pandey secured an easy win in her first match as she beat Akriti Shah 6-1, 6-2 while she received a walkover from Laxmi BK in her second match.
In other U-12 girls´ singles matches, Alsha Regmi defeated Deewa Rana 6-2, 8-6, Ira M Rawat saw off Ayusha Rai 6-1, 6-0, Anne Mathema routed Phura Sherpa 6-0, 6-0 and Karuna Gauchan beat Medhavi Giri 6-0, 6-1 to advance into the second round.
In other U-12 boys´ singles matches, Satyap Ilme registered an easy win over Hrigdev Singh scoring 6-2, 6-0 while Deep Rana defeated Devansh Tuladhar 6-0, 6-1, Sulav Dhital beat Gaurav Dahal 6-4, 6-3, Sahil Deep saw off Ratul Pradhan 6-1, 6-2, Dewansh Agrawal ousted Sudhan Lamichhane 6-1, 6-2 and Ashish Bade beat Ayushman 6-1, 6-4.
There were also victories for Swaraj KC, Arjan Dhungel and Siril Satyal in the same age group. KC thrashed Kiran Rai 6-2, 6-1 while Dhungel was made to work hard to register a 6-4, 6-4 win over Abhinav Acharya.
Satyal defeated Prasiddha Pandey, who staged a fightback in the second set but lost 6-0, 7-6.
The eight-day tournament features competition in five different age groups -- U-9, U-10, U-12, U-14 and U-16 -- in both boys´ and girls´ categories and carries the highest total cash prize of Rs 250,000, according to the organizers Man-Jaykar Tennis Academy.
Altogether 112 boys and 65 girls are competing in the tournament which was inaugurated by All Nepal Lawn Tennis Association President Manoj Rana earlier on Saturday.
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