Lalitpur, February 5

Nepal’s Pranav Khanal, Mahika Rana, Prerana Koirala and Ira Mehernissa Rawat advanced to the round of 16 in the Nepal ITF Juniors U-18 Circuit-I Tournament here at the Satdobato Tennis Complex courts today.

In boys’ section, Khanal came from a set down to beat Aditya Chopra of India 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to make it to the pre-quarters.

Similarly, six Indian players advanced to the last 16 in boys’ category. Naithaolin Calvin Golmet beat Poland’s Michal Wargocki 6-4, 7-5, PrasannaPravinBagade saw off China’s Wenmao Li 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 and RishabAgarwal recorded a 6-3, 6-1 win against Nepal’s Nisan Shrestha. Also, VanshGhagtani defeated Nepal’s Evyak Joshi 6-0, 6-1, AnuragAgarwal outplayed Japan’s Daisuke Inagawa 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 and JaishvinSidana defeated Tomasz Frankowsi of Poland 6-4, 6-3.

Likewise, Japan’s Taiyo Hirani outplayed India’s Shashikant Rajput 6-4, 6-4, while his teammate Taisei Kageyama beat India’s TarushBagai 6-2, 6-2. China’s Gaungsen Wen registered a 6-3, 6-2 win over India’s KrishanHooda 6-3, 6-2 and Thailand’s TanapattNirundorn defeated GS Sanjay of India 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1 to make it to the pre-quarters.

In girls’ section, all three Nepali players defeated Indian opponents. Rana defeated Hrudaya Shah 6-1, 6-0, Rawat recorded a 6-1, 7-5 victory over AshpreetKaurBajwa and Koirala saw off GauriAgarwal 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.

In other matches, four Indian players registered wins. Prinkle Singh took a double bagel against Nepal’s PrakritiShrestha, DivyaVanni beat Japan’s RikoKamikura 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2, Srinidhi Sridhar saw off Chinese Taipei’s Skia Kung 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 and SmritiBhasin beat Nepal’s MayankaRana 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

Also, the Philippines’ Ma CarmencitaIsabela Carlos defeated Nepal’s AbhilashaBista 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, Hong Kong’s Chui Kei Leung thrashed SaloniTamang of Nepal 6-1, 6-0 and China’s Yiming Dang beat India’s AnandDhararaMudaliar 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to pre-quarters.