Kathmandu, June 19

Ratnajit Tamang and Dipesh Dhami of Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) advanced to the semi-finals of the fifth Pushpalal Memorial Ranking National Badminton Tournament here at the National Sports Council covered hall today.

Nepal No 1 Tamang defeated Joseph Adhikari of Nepal APF Club 21-13, 21-7, while Dhami beat fellow TAC teammate Nabin Shrestha 21-7, 21-11. In other quarter-final matches, Bishnu Katuwal of Nepal Police Club (NPC) thumped Bijit Thapa Magar of Nepal APF Club 21-19, 21-11 and Bikash Shrestha of Bhojpur crushed Sudip Sedhai of Nepal APF Club 21-16, 21-9.

TAC dominated the women’s section matches with Nangsal Devi Tamang, Anu Maya Rai, Jessica Gurung and Amita Giri making it to the last four. In semi-finals, Tamang will face Giri, while Gurung will take on Rai. In the day’s league matches, Tamang beat Rai 21-11, 21-12, while Gurung thumped Sunaina Mukhiya 21-16, 21-15 and Giri edged past Shova Gauchan of Nepal APF Club 21-13, 19-21, 21-16.

In women’s doubles matches, Nangsal Devi Tamang/Amita Giri thrashed Dina Pun/Jyoti Subba 21-15, 21-13, while Sita Rai/Shova Gauchan thumped TAC’s Sunaina Mukhiya/Jessica Gurung 21-12, 21-11. Also, Durga Bhandari/Suja Rai edged past Anu Maya Rai/Megha Chand 21-18, 21-18 and Puja Shrestha/Bina Tulachan routed Purnima Rai/Sangita Rai 21-13, 21-10 to enter the semi-finals.

In men’s doubles, Ratnajit Tamang/Nabin Shrestha of TAC made it to the quarter-finals along with four APF pairs — Sudip Sedhai/Bijit Thapa Magar, Joseph Adhikari/Suman Limbu, Bishal Pradhan/Bimal Shrestha, and Pankaj Chand/Indra Mahata of APF. Also making to the last eight were Bikash Shrestha/Ram Rai, Jitendra Sharma/Raj Kumar Pokhrel, Bishnu Katuwal/Deep Bohara of NPC, Dipesh Dhami/Suresh Maharjan.