Kathmandu, July 23

Shyantu Shrestha and Dikshya Tamang won the U-16 titles of the National Open Table Tennis Tournament here today.

Shrestha from Kathmandu came from a set down to beat Ritij Joshi 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 in boys’ final, while Ghana Shyam Sharma and Aashish Sharma came joint third. In girls’ final, Tamang beat fellow AVM School player Lashtha Maharjan 11-9, 11-5, 11-4, whereas Sukriti Shrestha and Anju Suwal finished third.

In the men’s singles category, national champion Deep Saun made it to the semi-finals along with Tribhuvan Army Club duo Krishna Thapa Magar and Rajendra Kapali and Nepal APF Club’s Chandan Shahi. Saun defeated Nabin Bahadur Singh of Galaxy 12-10, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 to set date with Thapa Magar, a 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6 winner over his TAC teammate Nihal Shrestha. Likewise, Kapali outplayed Jacky Maharjan of Lalitpur 11-7, 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 and set the semi-final date with Shahi, who defeated U-16 winner Shyantu Shrestha 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8.

In women’s section, second-seed Elina Maharjan of Nepal Police Club defeated Anita Maharjan of Nepal APF Club 12-10, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6 to set the last four clash with AVM’s Dikshya Tamang, who came from a set down to register a fighting 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7 victory over Kathmandu’s Norden Tamang. The other semi-final pits NPC’s Erika Maharjan and Sukriti Shrestha from Rupandehi. Maharjan beat APF’s Anima Adhikari 11-6, 11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, whereas Shrestha registered a 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 11-3 victory over another APF player Selisha Khadgi.

The tournament is organised by Kathmandu District Table Tennis Association to raise funds to help the national table tennis players affected by the devastating earthquake that struck the country on April 25.