Himalayan News Service

Lalitpur, July 23:

Defending champions Shree Ram Thapa Magar and Vindiya Dayananda defended their men’s and women’s section titles at the Birthday Cup Tennis Tournament organised by All Nepal Lawn Tennis Association to mark the 59th birthday of King Gyanendra. The win earned Magar Rs 18,500 and Dayananda Rs 7,500. In men’s final, top-seed Magar took two hours and 53 minutes to eliminate Kumar Adhikari 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3 in a hard-fought match. Magar, who outplayed Kamal Bhandari in the last year’s final, won first two sets but Adhikari hold his nerves and took the other two sets to force the deciding set. But the luck was on Magar’s favour as the defending champion claimed the second straight victory of the tournament winning the final set. In women’s section, Dayananda despatched Priti Rizal 6-4, 6-1 in just 63 minutes. Priti, vying for the first women’s title, looked content and her steady show made it possible for this 14-year-old to hold Dayananda 4-4 after 30 minutes of the play. ayananda proved dangerous for Priti only in the second set as the 19-year-old Sri Lankan gave Priti, who was the U-14 girls’ champion last year, conceded just one point in the second set.

In veterans’ (above 45) final, Manoj Rana upset two-time defending champion Kamal Thapa 7-5, 4-6, 10-6. Thapa — who won three titles last year — and Rana, who is ranked No 2 in Asia after playing at the 2004 Asian Veterans’ Championship in Bangkok, were playing in their seventh final overall. Thapa has won four times while Rana made it three on Saturday. The match was tied at 1-1 after 89 minutes and the organisers announced to declare the champion through a ‘weired rule’ — race to 10 points — which is not official in international events, and Rana outplayed Thapa. Gaurab Shah defeated Amul Regmi 9-3 to clinch the sub-junior boys’ title and Saloni Pandey beat Saluni Lama 6-2 in junior girls’ final. The winners will be awarded on Sunday.