Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, June 10:

Sumina Shrestha and Puja Shrestha of Nepal struggled to stay alive in the Samsung Nepal Asian Satellite Badminton Championship 2005 here today. The Shrestha duo beat angladesh’s Dulai Hulder and Konica Rani Adhikary 15-13, 15-2 to advance to the women’s doubles final, making it the only appearance for the hosts. The home shuttlers managed their first point only after conceding five points to their Bangladeshi opponents. They levelled the scores at 8-8 and took lead there after, but the Bangladeshi pair pulled back and managed to level the scores at 13-all, before conceding two points. In the second set, the local players took a 8-0 lead, conceded one point, and secured 13-1 lead. They wrapped up the match easily. In the final, Sumina and Puja will face Sri Lankans Renu C De Silva and Thilini Jayasinghe, who beat Pakistan’s Ayesha Akram and Sara Khan 15-2, 15-3. Earlier, Sumina lost her semi-final against Sri Lanka’s Thilini Jayasinghe 3-11, 2-11. In other semi-final, Renu C De Silva defeated Bangladesh’s Konica Rani Adhikary 11-1, 11-3, making it an all Lankan final. Nepal’s Pashupati Paneru and Pankaj Chand also lost in men’s doubles. They squandered 7-3 lead in the first set and failed to provide resistence in the second before surrendering the match 7-15, 4-15 to Pakistan’s Waqas Ahmed and Tahir Ishaq. Pakistan’s Ahasan Qamar and Sri Lanka’s Thushara Ediresinghe entered the men’s singles final.