Bijay Baniya of Myagdi and Bhoj Bahadur Gurung of Itahari qualified for the men’s singles main draw for the 15th Krishna Mohan Memorial Open Badminton Championships on Sunday.

Baniya beat Dipirish Mani Bajracharya of Kirtipur 21-11, 21-14 and Gurung saw off Narendra Bam of Surkhet 21-15, 21-17 at the APF headquarters court in Halchowk. Others to join them for the main tournament include Priyanshu Singh Chhetri of Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club, Gokul Jora of Kanchanpur, Anish Khatiwada and Ashish Tamang of Zest Badminton Academy, Gokul Tamang of Swayambhu and Amrit Chaudhary of Kailali.

Chhetri beat Roshan Kumal of Rupandehi 21-15, 21-17, Jora got the better of Dewakar Pandey of Kirtipur 21-17, 21-15, Khatiwada defeated Deepak Suryabanshi of Rupandehi 21-13, 21-17, Ashish got a walkover from Rohit Baral of Kapilvastu, Gokul eased past Santosh Kumar Pant of Kathmandu 21-18, 21-11 and Chaudhary beat Ujjwal Pokharel of Morang 21-14, 21-14.

The tournament features events in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, mixed doubles, U-19 boys’ and girls’ apart from age-group competition for veterans. In all, 287 shuttlers are taking part in the tournament organised in memory of late APF Inspector General Krishna Mohan Shrestha.