Shrestha toils as Tamang storms into semis

KATHMANDU, Sept 8: Nepal champion Pooja Shrestha and former Nepal champion Sara Devi Tamang fixed their semifinal spots as group winners in the women´s singles of the ongoing First Pushpa Lal Memorial Ranking Badminton Tournament on Thursday.



Shrestha and Tamang qualified for the semifinal undefeated in the group stage matches from group A and B respectively.[break]



Shrestha had won three matches on the first day of the tournament but she had to toil hard on the second day to beat fifth seeded Sabina Pantjhi 22-20, 21-19. Another semifinalist, Tamang won her remaining two matches of the group stage as she defeated seventh seeded Poonam Gurung 21-9, 21-10 and fourth seeded Mina Shrestha 21-9, 21-5.



Second seeded Nangsal Devi Tamang and Sabina Panhti also qualified for the semifinals as the runners-up from their respective groups. Tamang easily beat sixth seeded Samjhana Sharma 21-10, 21-10 in her last match of group B.



Panthi overcame Jalmaya Gurung 21-12, 21-11 in group A to fix her place in the semifinals.



Top seeded Shrestha will meet second seeded Nangsal Devi in the semifinal while Sara Devi will lock horns with Sabina Panthi.



In the men´s section, 14th seeded Dipesh Dhami topped group A and qualified for the quarterfinals. From the same group, Nepal champion Bikash Shrestha also qualified for the quarterfinals as runner-up. From group B, 19th ranked Ram Singh Chaudhary qualified for the knockout round as group winner and Indra Mahata as runner-up.



Sajan Krishna Tamrakar and Sahadev Khadka qualified for the quarterfinals from group C while Ratnajit Tamang and Pankaj Chand made it from group D after securing the top two spots respectively.



Dhami defeated Sanjeev Khadka 21-14, 22-20 in the first match of the second day and Sudip Sedai 21-10, 21-13. In the last group stage match, Nepal No 1 Shrestha humiliated Sanjeev Khadka 21-5, 21-7.



Second seeded Tamang continued his dominance on the second day as he over powered Pankaj Chand 21-17, 21-10 and received a walkover from Surya Shrestha, who met with an accident in Dharan prior to the tournament. Chand qualified for the quarterfinals with three wins from four matches. Chand also received a walkover from Shrestha.



Ram Singh Chaudhary won his both matches. He defeated Basanta Bajracharya 21-11, 21-14 and Bishal Pradhan 21-17, 17-21, 21-14. Third seeded Indra Mahata registered 21-13, 21-17 win over Rajan Shivakoti in his last match of the group stage.



Fourth seeded Sajan Krishna Tamrakar continued his dominance in the tournament as he beat Surya Thapa 21-14, 21-11 and Bilal Barsi 21-19, 21-16. Sahadev Khadka registered three wins from four matches and qualified for the quarterfinals.

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