In the 10th Jaykar Memorial National Open Tennis Tournament that concluded today, there were around 10 sibling duos, who learnt tennis from their parents or from their elder siblings. The most successful sibling duo is Ashlesha Lissanevitch and Ivan Hoe Lissanevitch.[break]
The brother and sister had started to play tennis at a young age as they had seen their father and mother playing tennis. Ashlesha is the most successful tennis player of Nepal as she has won all the junior titles in 2011 and is also the defending champion of APF Open Lawn Tennis.
Her brother Ivannoe Lissanevitch is also one of the successful tennis players in junior category. He has won the U-14 title twice and U-16 title once this year but he had to give up the fight in the current tournament due to a calf-muscle tear. He was a finalist in both categories.
Mayanka Rana and Mahika Rana are twin sisters playing in the tournament. They started playing tennis at the age of five. The current tournament has been organized in the memory of their brother who died at a young age.
The twin sisters said the family members of her mother Jyoti Rana inspired them to join the game. Mayanka Rana had won U-9 title once and U-10 title twice while her sister Mahika Rana is still in the hunt for a title.
Milan Rokaya, U-16 champion of the tournament, had started playing tennis at the age of eight. Rokaya said his father and brother along with his coaches inspired him to join tennis. Rokaya has won five titles in his tennis career.
Nima Rokaya of the same family finished in the second position for the first time in her tennis career. She joined tennis after she saw her two elder brothers and her father playing tennis. She started playing tennis last year.
Samrakshan Bhusan Bajrachary, who won two titles in the tournament, started playing tennis at the age of four. Bajracharya won U-10 and U-12 titles this year and won many other titles in the past. Bajracharya said his father and mother taught him to play tennis.
Samyak Bhusan Bajracharya, who also started tennis at the age of four, is still in the hunt for a title. Samyak had participated in U-9 and U-10 but lost in the preliminary round.
Abhilasha Bista, who won U-9 singles category, said she started to play tennis after seeing her brother playing. Bista started to play tennis at the age of six.
Brother of Abhilasha Bista, Abhishek Bista, started to play tennis at the age of 11. Abhishek Bista said he started to play tennis after watching tennis matches on television. Rajiv Chhetri trained him to play tennis and Abhishek trains for five days in a week with him. Abhishek was the semifinalist of the tournament.
Meghavi Giri and Aryan Giri started the tennis career eight months ago. The Giri siblings said they started to play tennis after their father inspired them to come into sports. Brother Giri was the semifinalist of the LA Tennis tournament while Sister Meghavi was the quarterfinalist of the current tournament.
Abhaya Gauchan and Karuna Gauchan are the other sibling duo whose mother inspired them to play the game. Brother Gauchan said he started to play tennis for pass time at the beginning but later took to the game seriously. Sister Gauchan said she started to play tennis with her brother at the same time.
Another successful player of the tournament, Bhivuti Karki, has a different story. She started playing tennis when she was nine. Karki said her parents played table tennis but her uncle Bhoo Arun Malla inspired her to play tennis. Karki has won four titles in her tennis career including the current title.
Satya Karki, brother of Bhivuti Karki, started to play tennis from the age of five. He said his sister inspired him to play tennis. Satya Karki is still in the hunt for a title.
The other sibling duo who participated in the tournament are Diwa Rana and Dip Rana and Suman Karki and Ganesh Karki.
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