Pokhara, December 25

Anu John, Shankar Karki, Rajan Bijukchhe and Dev Thapa advanced to the men’s above-35 singles second round of the 15th Machhapuchchhre Bank Pokhara Open Veterans Tennis Tournament here today.

In the first round matches, John beat Niresh Shrestha 6-2, 6-4, while Karki saw off Janmajay SJB Rana 6-3, 6-2. Also, Bijukchhe outplayed Krishna KC 6-3, 6-4 and Thapa defeated Bhashma Kauchha 6-4, 2-6, 10-5.

Similarly, Shiva Subedi defeated Sunil Bhattarai 6-1, 7-5, Prakash Wagle registered a 7-5, 5-7, 10-6 win against Chandra Lama and Nabin Shrestha beat Munish Thapa 6-2, 6-3. Birendra Lama and Surya Shahi also advanced to second round after they earned walkover wins.

In above-35 doubles, John teamed up with Dorje Lama to beat the duo of Sheshmani Chaudhary and Bhashma Kauchha 6-2, 6-1. In other matches, the pair of Himal Shah and Raj Chhetri saw off Gopi Bahadur Bhattarai and Dharam Bahadur Lamichhane 6-7, 6-3, 10-4, Lok Gurung and Rajan Paudel defeated Rajan Bijukchhe and Shiva Subedi 6-4, 6-0, while the pair of Chandra Lama and Birendra Lama earned a walkover win from Suwarna Dhakwa and Niresh Shrestha.

In above-45 singles matches, Raju Gurung beat Kaji Gurung 6-1, 3-6, 10-5, while Dinesh Tuladhar registered a 3-6, 6-4, 10-2 win against Hum Ale. Likewise, Surya Bhujel saw off Madhab Bhandari 6-1, 6-2, Bimal Gurung beat Surya Shahi 6-4, 6-0, and Anuj Bastola and Dharma Koirala earned walkover wins from their opponents.

In above-45 doubles, the pair of Dharma Koirala and Kumar Gurung defeated the duo of Manoj Basnet and Ramu BK 6-0, 6-2 and the pair of Amrit Rokka and Chhiring Sherpa earned walkover win.

In above-55 singles, Denam Lama beat Shanta Shrestha 6-2, 6-2 and Anil Tulachan advanced to the second round when his opponent Bishnu Gurung retired hurt after losing 0-6 in the first set.

The winner and runner-up of above-35 singles will get Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively, top two in above-45 singles, above-55 singles and above-65 singles will earn Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

Similarly, top two players in doubles categories will be awarded with Rs 15,000 and Rs 7,000 respectively. The tournament is being organised by Kaski District Lawn Tennis Association.