Sports

Bajracharya sails into quarters

Bajracharya sails into quarters

By Himalayan News Service

Anil Shahi returns to Subrat Basnet during their fifth Citizensu0092 Bank Open Tennis Tournament match in Lalitpur on Monday. Photo: Naresh Shrestha/THT

Lalitpur, April 24 Defending champion Samrakshak Bhushan Bajracharya advanced to the men’s singles quarter-finals of the fifth Citizens’ Bank Open Tennis Tournament here at Satdobato Tennis Complex today. Bajracharya knocked Tanuja Agrawal out in straight sets of 6-0, 6-0 to make it to the last eight. Pranav Khanal defeated Bikash Khadka 6-2, 6-2, while Kumar Adhikari outplayed Kubehang Chemjong 6-0, 6-0 to make it to the last eight. Likewise, Dawa Sherpa registered a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Abhinav Acharya, Anil Shahi saw off Subrat Basnet 6-1, 6-1, Santosh Khatri beat Pradeep Khadka 6-4, 6-4, Jitendra Pariyar defeated Ranjan Shrestha 6-0, 6-0 and Nabin Magar outplayed Adit Subedi 7-5, 6-0 and entered the quarters. In the men’s doubles section, pairs of Kumar Adhikari/Jitendra Pariyar, Santosh Khatri/Dawa Sherpa, and Shyam GC/Anjan Thing advanced to the semi-finals. Similarly, in the mixed doubles category, pairs of Samrakshak Bhushan Bajracharya/Mayanka Rana, Nabin Magar/Prerana Koirala, Shakti Sharma/Ganga Sharma and Shreeram Magar/Ira Rawat made it to the semi-finals. Mahesh Shrestha, Aatmaram Karki, Bijay Maharjan, Niraj Thapa, Kamal Bhandari, Rajan Paudel, Subod Adhikari and Raju Shrestha entered the quarter-finals in above-35 veteran singles category, while the pairs of Raju Shrestha/Hemraj Dhakal, Niraj Thapa/Gopi Bhattarai, Aatmaram Karki/Manoj Arora, Chhewang Lama/Manoj Shah, Kamal Bhandari/Mahesh Shrestha and Niresh Shrestha/Dharma Ratna Shahi sailed into the last eight in above-35 veteran doubles. Likewise, Krishna Raj Ghale, Dharma Lamichhane, Pradeep Shah and Bikash Gurung secured their places in above-45 veteran singles, while the pairs of Raju Chhetri/Degendra Shrestha, Uttam Bogati/Hem Chandra Gurung, Kaji Gurung-Karim Ulha Muslim, Prem Thapa/Bharun Malla, Sanjay Amatya/Dharma Ratna Shahi, Pratap Moktan/Krishna Raj Ghale, Lok Gurung/Dharma Lamichhane and Prithvi Man Gurung/Padam Gurung made it to the above-45 veteran doubles quarters. Prithvi Thakali, Dilip Singh and Gyanendra Tamrakar secured their places in above-55 veteran singles category.