Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 1:

The 3rd National Birthday Badminton Tournament began here under the auspices of Himalayan Badminton Club on the occasion of King Gyanendra’s 58th birthday. Princess Shova Rajya Laxmi Shahi inaugurated the four-day event. In the inaugural day matches, Rohit Tondon of Banke beat Milan Gurung of NBC 15-5, 15-9; Sital Singh of Banke beat Manoj Limbu of Dharan 15-5, 15-1; Ram Singh Chaudhari of APF beat Bimal Jha of NBC 15-1, 15-3; Rajendra Pauwi of Baglung beat Jay Ram Karki of HYC 15-7, 15-0; Mahendra Maharjan of Bull’s Gym beat Niraj Rai of KIC 15-4, 15-3; Bijaya Thapa of MPC beat Ramesh Prabai of KIC 15-0, 15-3; Himal Tamrakar of MGB beat Ashok Shrestha of SBS 8-15, 15-10, 15-10; Prafulla Baidya of MPC beat Janardan Thapa Magar of JYC 15-8, 15-1; Yamu Pauwi of Baglung beat Niranjan Khadka of HYC 9-15, 15-12, 15-11; and Tensing Rai of Bull’s beat Shiva Rai of NBC.

Basanta Bajracharya of Palpa, Anup Thapa and Indra Gurung of Kaski earned walkovers from their opponents Dipendra Shrestha, Arun Sanjal and Suman Kunwar respectively.