local briefs

Paneru wins opener

KATHMANDU: Pashupati Paneru defeated Laxman Chand 15-3, 15-2 in the inaugural match of the fourth Birthday Cup Open Badminton Tournament, which has been organised by Himalaya Badminton Club to mark the 59th birthday of King Gyanendra at the National Sports Council Covered Hall, today. In other men’s singles matches, Raju Maharjan beat Surya Giri 15-10, 15-3; Bishal Pradhan defeated Rakesh Singh 15-2, 15-10; Bharat Shrestha outplayed Sunil Bajracharya 15-4, 15-11; Prajjwol Rana overwhelmed Khum Krishna 15-1, 15-1; Jitendra Sharma beat Govinda Lamichhane 15-0, 15-4; Pratik Shrestha beat Vishwopati Nembang 15-1, 15-1; Bikash Shrestha beat Mahendra 15-3, 15-13; and Hari Krishna beat Pankaj Chand 15-1, 15-1.

Saila beats Oshin Bharati

LALITPUR: Saila Rana of St Mary’s School finished first in one minute and 14.53 seconds, leaving behind Oshin Bharati (1.14.57) in the girls’ open freestyle at the Birthday Cup Inter-school Swimming Championship, which has been organised by Nepal Swimming Association to mark the 59th birthday of King Gyanendra. Christina Karki and Karishma Karki came joint third. In boys’ section, Om Bahadur Kumal (1.06.22), Khim Bahadur Kumal (1.06.86) and Sailesh Rana (1.07.94) grabbed the top three spots. Other winners were: Bipin Pokharel and Surangana Bomdzom (U-12 50m backstroke); Sunil Shrestha and Sonia Gurung (U-12 50m breaststroke); Tek Bahadur Tamang and Oshin Bharati (13-14 yrs 50m backstroke); Sailesh Rana and Karishma Karki (15-17 yrs 50m backstroke); Sailesh Rana and Sudha Shrestha (15-17 yrs 50m breaststroke); and Mahesh Jirel and Oshin Bharati (13-14 yrs 50m breaststroke).

Karki elected NSA prez

KATHMANDU: Nepal Shooting Association (NSA) held their first general election since its establishment after 25 years today. President Kishor Bahadur Karki, along with 10 others, have been elected unanimously, Other members are: Om Bahadur Singh, Mahesh Bahadur Singh, Dipendra Upreti, Bishnu Karki, Prakash Nakarmi, Kamal Bahadur Chhetri, Bibek Dhungel, Manjushree Rana, Rajan Adhikari and Khageshwor KC.

Anandabhumi in last four

KATHMANDU: Anandabhumi School and Adarsha Vidya Mandir (AVM) entered the semi-finals of the third GCA Inter-school Cricket Tournament beating Rai School and Deepjyoti School by three wickets and 10 wickets respectively. Batting first, Rai School were bowled out for 88 runs in 25 overs riding on Sandip’s 19 runs. Man of the match Amrit took three wickets and Kushal and Mantosh took two wickets each for Anandabhumi. In reply, Anandabhumi reached the target in 25 overs losing seven wickets. Ashish claimed three wickets for Rai School. In the other match, Deepjyoti were bowled out for 43 runs in 15 overs. Man of the match Anil Bajracharya pocketed five wickets for AVM. In reply, AVM overcame the target in 3.3 overs after the organisers decided to reduce the target to 26 runs due to rain.

Thapathali in semi-finals

LALITPUR: Shankar Raut, Tulsi Kawe, Suraj Gurung and Dhirendra Jung Rai scored a goal each as Thapathali Campus defeated Institute of Medicine 4-1 and advanced

to the semi-finals of the NCE Cup Inter-technical College Football Tournament, which has been organised by National Students’ Council of National College of Engineering (NCE). In the other quarter-final match, Pulchowk Campus beat Nepal Engineering College (NEC) 3-1 on penalties. The match went into tie breaker after both the teams failed to break 1-1 deadlock. Sagar Mohan Bhattarai scored for Pulchowk while Prabhat Singh netted for NEC. The semi-finals are slated for Friday and the final is on Sunday.— HNS