KATHMANDU: Pankaj Chand eliminated Nepal No 1 Bikash Shrestha of Nepal Police Club (NPC) from the men’s singles quarter-finals of the National Open Badminton Tournament here today.

Bikash, who was also the gold medallist at the fifth National Games, was outclassed by Pankaj Chand 21-14, 21-16. The day was also marked by another upset as third seed Indra Mahata of Armed Police Force (APF) lost against his teammate Sajan Krishna Tamrakar 16-21, 21-17, 21-15.

Second-seed Ram Singh Chaudhary of Kailali managed to qualify for the semi-finals with a 21-18, 21-11 win over Bibek Shrestha of Bhojpur. Ratnajit Tamang of Bhojpur also entered the last four with a 21-19, 21-16 win over Kishor Rana of NPC.

Meanwhile, top-seed Puja Shrestha of APF and Sara Devi Tamang of TAC have set the women’s singles title clash. Puja outplayed Sabina Panthi 21-10, 21-15 and Sara Devi cruised past Sujana Shrestha of APF 21-13, 21-14. Sujana made it to the women’s doubles final after she paired with Puja to beat Ratna Rai and Nirmala Magar 21-6, 21-9. The pair will now take on Sara Devi and Bina Tulachan, a 21-7, 21-5 winner over Sita Dahal and Sabina Panthi.

Making through to the men’s doubles semi-finals were Indra Mahata and Bishal Pradhan, Surya Thapa and Bharat Shrestha, Pankaj Chand and Rajeev Dahal along with Bikash and Kishor Rana. In the U-16 boys’ singles, Bilal Waris, Anup Gurung, Dipesh Dhami and Irfan Ansari advanced to semi-finals. Likewise, Punam Gurung, Manila Shrestha, Swastika Budhathoki and Samjhana Sharma reached U-16 girls’ singles final four.