KATHMANDU, Dec 15: Nepal's number one Ratnajit Tamang became only Nepali male player to make to the quarterfinal of the ongoing BWF Yonex Sunrise International Series 2016 badminton tournament.
None of the players from Nepal beside Ratnajit secured a place into the last eight of the tournament. Among the 12 players, nine crashed out from the first round on Tuesday while two others including Bishnu Katwal and Dipesh Dhami who played in the last 16 alongside Ratnajit faced defeats on Wednesday.
In the pre-quarterfinal match played at Dasharath Stadium's covered hall in Tripureshwar on Wednesday, Ratnajit defeated Indian opponent Aman Kumar in the straight sets of 21-13, 21-19. Ratnajit, the third seed of the tournament, will now face fifth seed Siddharath Thakur of India in last eight who beat Quang Huy Dang of Vietnam 21-8, 21-13 on the same day.
Butwal Open Tennis from Friday
Despite better seedings, Ratnajit doesn't have good record against Thakur given two defeats in Tata Open India International Challenge and Syed Modi International Badminton Championships respectively few years back in India. However Ratnajit is confident of giving tough challenge to his Indian opponent at the home court this time. “I am more confident this time than in the last two meetings against him. I think I am capable of giving tough fight at home court,” said Ratnajit.
However Nepal champion Ratnajit wasn't satisfied with his performance on Wednesday despite straight sets win. “I am not satisfied with my performance and I must perform better in coming matches to win the medal,” ended Ratnajit.
In other last 16 clashes of the same event, Dipesh Dhami faced 21-13 21-12 defeat to seventh seed Duc Phat Le of Vietnam while Bishnu Katwal was beaten by second seed Abhishek Yelegar of India 21-16, 21-11.
Similarly, Tushar Krishna Roy of Bangladesh, Vietnam's Cao Cuong Pham also reached to the quarterfinals beating Nasheeu Sharafuddeen of Maldives and Iranian opponent Amir Jabbari respectively. Tushar overcame Nasheeu 21-6, 21-10 while Cao registered of 21-13, 21-12 victory over Amir.
Bangladesh's Mohammad Salman Khan and Rizwan Azam of Pakistan joined other quarterfinalists as they edged past Arun Kumar Ashok Kumar of India and Vietnam's Duc Giang Nguyen respectively. Mohammad beat Arun 19-21, 21-17, 21-18 while Rizwan recorded 21-17, 21-17 win.
Sichhya into women's singles quarterfinal
Sichhya Shrestha progressed to the quarterfinal in women's singles event while three other shuttlers including Nepal number one Nangsal Devi Tamang faced exits from the tournament.
Sichhya earned 22-20, 19-21, 21-17 win over Alina Sultana of Bangladesh in the last 16 clash. She will now face top seed of the tournament Thuy Linh Nguyen of Vietnam in the quarterfinal on Thursday. Thuy enjoyed walkover from Nepali player Poonam Gurung.
Similarly, Nangsal faced 21-18, 21-19 defeat at the hand of Pakistani opponent Mahoor Shahzad while Amita Giri lost to third seed Aghaei Hajiagha Soraya of Iran 21-6, 21-13.
Likewise, Palwasha Bashir of Pakistan and Indonesia's Devi Yunita Indah Sari also progressed to the quarterfinal. Palwasha defeated Nafha Nasrullah of Maldives 21-4, 21-8 and Devi overcame Aktar Shapla of Bangladesh 21-16, 23-21. Vietnam's Thi Phuong Thuy Tran also joined them in quarterfinal registering 21-15, 21-10 win over Maisa Fathuhulla Ismail of Maldives.
Ratnajit, Dipesh into doubles quarterfinal
The pair Ratnajit Tamang and Dipesh Dhami has reached to the last eight of the men's doubles event beating Bangladesh pair of Mohammad Anamul Haque and Moajjam Hossain 18-21, 21-16, 21-6. The duo will vie against pair of Rizwan Azam and Sulehri Kashif Ali of Pakistan in the quarterfinal. Earlier the Pakistani pair enjoyed walkover from Nepali pair of Sudeep Sedhai and Sajan Krishna Tamrakar.
However other four Nepali pairs faced first round exits from the men's doubles events. Pair of Deepak Bohora and Bhuugol Gurung faced 21-18, 9-21, 21-13 defeat at the hands of Hussein Zayan Shaheed and Nasheeu Sharafuddeen pair of Maldives.
Similarly, the pair of Irfan Ansari and Sanjeev Khadka was beaten by Indian pair of Arun George and Saurabh Sharma 21-9, 21-10 while another Nepali pair comprising of Josef Adhikari and Suman Limbu faced 17-21 21-9 21-9 defeat at the hands of the Bangladeshi pair of Mohammad Salman Khan and Tushar Krishna Roy. Likewise the pair of Bijeet Thapa Magar and Bishnu Katwal were beaten by the Vietnamese pair of Quang Huy Dang and Duc Giang Nguyen 21-14, 21-10.
Women's doubles
None of the Nepali pair made to the last eight of of women's doubles after two pairs of home side faced defeats on Wednesday. The pair of Megha Chand and Sunaina Mukhiya faced 21-8, 21-11 defeat at the hands of the Bangladeshi pair of Aktar Shapla and Alina Sultana.
Similarly the pair of Amita Giri and Sichhya Shrestha lost to the Indian pair of Anoushka Parikh and Harika Veludurthi 21-7, 21-8 in the last 16.
The pair comprising Iranian player Aghaei Hajiagha Soraya and Devi Yunita Indah Sari of Indonesia reached to the quarterfinal defeating Maldivian pair of Maisa Fathuhulla Ismail and Nafha Nasrullah 21-16 21-12.
