KATHMANDU, March 11 : Deep Saun and Amarlal Malla of Nepal Police Club and Nepal APF Sport Club's Shiva Sundar Gothe and Purushottam Bajracharya progressed into First Kala Bohara Memorial National Open Cash Prize Table Tennis Championship in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Top seeded Shiva completed an easy 4-0 set win over his teammate Mani Kumar Lama as second seeded Purushottam completed a 4-2 set win in a highly competitive match against Sunil Maharjan of Lalitpur. Likewise, Deep recorded a 4-1 set win over Prajjwal Shrestha of Tribhuvan Army while Amarlal beat Chandan Shahi of APF in 4-0 sets.
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Shiva will take on Purushottam while Amarlal will face Deep in the semifinals.
"I am confident about reaching the final. If I am able to defeat Purushottam en route to final, I am confident about winning the championship," said Shiva.
"Purushottam is an unpredictable opponent. Though he is a defensive-attacking player, he is hard to predict when he switches from defense to attack," said top-seeded Shiva, who has been champion in three National Games.
"I expect highly competitive match against Shiva. He is an experienced opponent and we have met in numerous finals. We both have equal chances of progressing into the final," said Purushottam.
Meanwhile, Police clean swept the women's open as Elina Maharjan, Rabina Maharjan, Swechhya Nembang and Nabita Shrestha reached the semifinals after winning their respective quarterfinal matches.
Top seeded Nabita registered a 4-1 set victory over Apekshya Shakya of Sunsari, Elina defeated Kajol Rauniyar of Kaski in competitive 4-3 sets, Rabina completed a 4-0 sets win over her teammate Erika Maharjan and Swechhya beat Selisha Khagi of APF 4-1.
"If everything goes right, I am confident about winning the title," said Nabita, who had remained top seed since 2009 winning four National Games in the process.
Meanwhile, Saint Shrestha of Army will take on Karan Rai of Morang and Narayan Ghimire of Rupandehi will face Krishna Thapa of Army in the junior boys semifinals.
Likewise, Dikshya Tamang of Lalitpur will face Dikshya Dahal of Sunsari and Gita Aryal of Rupandehi will challenge Sonu Thapa of APF in the junior girls semifinal.
