Ratnajeet defeated Bikash Shrestha of Armed Police Force (APF) in three sets to lift the men´s singles title. Similarly, Sara Devi also came through in three sets to defeat her younger sister Nangsal Devi in the women´s singles final.[break]
Ratnajeet, who won all three tournaments in the last season, came from a set down to beat Shrestha 18-21, 21-13, 21-14. Winner Ratnajeet bagged a purse of Rs 39,000 and runner-up Shrestha received Rs 32,000 along with trophies and certificates.
"Shrestha is a tough competitor, but he gave away many negative points today and I benefited from those negative points," said the 21-year-old Ratnajeet, who joined Army from Armed Police Force (APF) in the beginning of this year. "We three -- Bikash, I and semifinalist Deepesh Dhami -- have tough competitions."
Runner-up Shrestha, a household name in Nepali badminton, who failed to win any title last season, described Ratnajeet as a good player. "As Ratnajeet had clean swept all three titles last year, I was not under pressure to play with him. However, I conceded many negative points," said Shrestha.
In the first set, Shrestha came back from 7-13 to level the score at 15-15 and eventually won the set 21-18.
In the second set, Ratnajeet dominated from the beginning and took the score to 6-1. Shrestha then cut Ratnajeet´s lead to three points (9-6), but the latter again widened the gap to seven points (13-6). Ratnajeet thereafter maintained a lead of at least six points before taking the set 21-13.
Ratnajeet made an impressive start in the final set as well and took an early 4-0 lead, but Shrestha clawed his way back into the game to take the score to 5-5. However, Ratnajeet restored his lead and made it 11-6 before the duo changed sides and wrapped up the match with a 21-14 victory in the final set.
In the women´s singles final, elder sister Sara, 27, defeated 24-year-old Nangsal 23-21, 18-21, 21-16. All three sets of the match were fiercely competitive from start to finish. It was Sara´s third win over her sister in a final. Winner Sara received a cash prize of Rs 31,000 and runner-up Nangsal received with Rs 24,000 along with trophies and certificates.
"Unlike in previous tournaments, Nangsal put up a tough fight today. She has improved a lot," said Sara. Nangsal echoed her elder sister. "The match was competitive. But she (Sara) is better than me and I have never defeated her in a final."
The pair of Ratnajeet and Ram Rai won the men´s doubles title defeating Bishnu Katuwal and Bijeet Thapa of Nepal Police Club 21-9, 21-16 in the final. Similarly, Pooja Shrestha and Sabina Panthi of APF lifted the women´s doubles title beating Army´s Sara and Nangsal 21-18, 21-15 in the final.
Dipesh Dhami clinched the U-19 boys´ singles title. Dhami overcame Bijeet Thapa Magar of Police 21-9, 21-16. Shiksha Shrestha of APF defeated Shreya Pradhan of Army 21-11, 21-8 to take the girls´ singles title.
Similarly, Anish Shrestha of Lalitpur saw off Nir Bikram Devkota of Kathmandu 29-27, 21-16 in the U-15 boys´ singles final. In the girls´ section, Jessica Gurung of Army beat Mega Chand of the same departmental team 21-19, 21-19 in the final.
The pair of Hari Shrestha and Purna Budhathoki of APF beat Rajendra Shakya and Nirman Shrestha of Baglung in the final of above-45 years veterans´ doubles. Similarly, Madan Karmacharya and Naresh Tamrakar of Lalitpur defeated the pair of Pushpa Shreshta and Bir Bahadur Shrestha in the final of above-55 years veterans doubles.
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