Jessica Gurung returns to Nangsal Devi Tamang during their seventh Pushpalal Memorial National Badminton Tournament match at the Itahari Badminton Club courts on Friday, May 11, 2018. Photo: THT
Itahari, May 11
Jessica Gurung of Jhapa came from a set down to stun Nepal No 1 woman shuttler Nangsal Devi Tamang in the semi-final of the seventh Pushpalal Memorial National Badminton Tournament here at the Itahari Badminton Club courts today.
The ninth seeded young player Gurung lost the first set 14-21 before bouncing back strongly in the next two. She took the second set 21-15 and sealed the victory with a 21-16 win in third and final set. Gurung will face Tribhuvan Army Club shuttler Rashila Maharjan, who registered a 21-16, 21-17 win over Jhapa’s Sunaina Mukhiya in another semi-final match. The 14-year-old Maharjan will be the youngest champion if she can beat Gurung in Saturday’s final.
Gurung made it a treble when she advanced to the women’s doubles and U-19 girls’ singles finals. She teamed up with Mukhiya in the women’s doubles and defeated TAC pair of Rashila Maharjan and Amita Giri 21-16, 17-21, 21-17 to enter the final. They will face TAC’s Nangsal and Anu Maya Rai, who beat Zest Badminton’s Jyoti Limbu and Dina Pun
21-10, 23-21.
In U-19 girls’ singles category, Gurung set final date with Rashila Maharjan in a rematch of women’s singles championship match. Gurung defeated Birat Badminton’s Rose Pandey 21-9, 21-5, while Maharjan registered a 21-11, 21-16 victory over another Birat Badminton player Sima Rajbanshi. Also, Praful Maharjan and Rukesh Maharjan advanced to the U-19 boys’ singles final.
Praful defeated Zest’s Sunil Joshi 21-18, 21-12, while Rukesh beat Sunsari Badminton Academy’s Pranish Singh Thakuri 21-13, 21-12.
In men’s singles, TAC shuttler Ratnajit Tamang and Dipesh Dhami of Nepal APF Club advanced to the final. Tamang defeated Bikash Shrestha of Bhojpur 21-18, 21-15, while Dhami beat TAC’s Nabin Shrestha 14-21, 21-8, 21-15.
Likewise, TAC pair of Tamang and Shrestha advanced to the men’s doubles final with a 21-14, 21-17 victory over Nepal Police Club’s Bishnu Katuwal and Jeevan Acharya. They will face APF duo of Dhami and Bijit Thapa Magar, who beat TAC’s Suroj Maharjan and Praful Maharjan 21-19, 21-18.
The post Gurung stuns Tamang in semis appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
Written by Nikki Hamal
This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/gurung-stuns-tamang-in-semis/ under the title “Gurung stuns Tamang in semis”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
