No Nepali player in final

Kathmandu, June 20:

None of the Nepali shuttlers could reach the finals at the Bajaj Discover Nepal International Badminton Series.

Nepal’s Puja Shrestha and Sara Devi Tamang — the only remaining hope of Nepal — lost to Indian duo of Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian 4-21, 7-21 in the women’s doubles semi-finals. They will face P Jyotsana and Anjali Kalita, also from India, in the final.

India’s top-ranked player Chetan Anand defeated countryman Vinay Kumar Reddy 21-13, 21-15 to set-up an all-Indian final against JBS Vidyadhar, who beat Pakistan’s Wajid Ali 21-15, 17-21, 21-13. Sri Lanka’s Thilini Jayasinghi and India’s Bibari Basumatary entered the women’s singles final. The Pakistani duo of Attique Mohammad and Rizwan Azam and India’s V Diju and Akshay Diwalkar made it to the men’s doubles final, while JBS Vidyadhar and Shruti Kurian set up an all-Indian mixed doubles final with V Diju and Jwala Gutta.

The finals of the $5,000 event are slated for Saturday.