Dipesh Dhami of Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club, Praful Maharjan of  Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC), Prince  Dahal of Silk Group and Jeevan Acharya of  Nepal Police Club (NPC)advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals of the 15th  Krishna Mohan Memorial Open Badminton Championships on Wednesday.

Held at the APF Headquarters court in Halchowk, all the beaten quarter-finals  coincidentally were from the APF Club. Dhami beat Gautam Singh Kathayat 21-14,  21-8, Maharjan defeated Sudeep Sedai 21-18, 21-11, Dahal saw off Sunil Joshi  21-15, 21-19 and Acharya got the better of Sajan Krishna Tamrakar 21-18, 21-17.

Army Club trio Amita Giri, Rashila Maharjan and Anu Maya Rai along with APF  shuttler Jessica Gurung made it to the women’s singles semi-finals. Giri saw  off Sima Rajbanshi of Morang 21-18, 21-19, Maharjan dispatched Ranjana Bhatta  of TAC 221-11, 21-15, Rai battled to a 21-11, 14-21, 21-18 win over Sunayana  Mukhiya of APF and Gurung overcame her APF clubmate Shova Gauchan 21-8, 21-14  in the quarter-finals.

Priyanshu Singh Chhetri and Pemba Sherpa of APF along with Prince Dahal and  Diwash Shankar of TAC secured semi-final berths in the U-17 boys’ singles  event. Chhetri beat Amrit Chaudhary of Dhangadhi 21-17, 21-12, Sherpa defeated  Ujjwal Pokharel of Morang 21-14, 21-15, Dahal eased past Prakash Chand of  Mahendranagar 21-8, 21-10 and Shankar ousted Gokul Jora of Kanchanpur 22-20,  21-13.

Army club duo Rashila Maharjan and Ranjana Bhatta along with Morang shuttlers  Nita Lamshal and Sima Rajbanshi entered the U-17 girls’ singles semi-finals.  Maharjan saw off Anusha Neupane of Zest Badminton Academy 21-6, 21-5, Bhatta  got the better of Smriti Rai of Birgunj 21-13, 21-14, Lamshal beat Rose Pandey  of Morang and Rajbanshi overcame Anjana Rai of Jhapa 21-8, 21-9.

In the mixed doubles quarter-finals, Dipesh Dhami and Pooja Shrestha beat Akhil  Shrestha and Dina Pun 21-17, 21-15, Suroj Maharjan and Amita Giri dispatched  Nir Bikram Devkota and Sita Rai 21-19, 21-13, Bijeet Thapa Magar and Shova  Gauchan overcame Praful Maharjan and Anu Maya Rai 21-19, 21-18 while Gautam  Singh Kathayat and Sunayana Mukhiya got a walkover from Rukesh Maharjan and  Ranjan Bhatta.

Advancing to the men’s doubles semi-finals were Dipesh Dhami-Bijeet Thapa  Magar, Deepak Bohara-Jeevan Acharya, Sudeep Sedai-Sajan Krishna Tamrakar and  Praful Maharjan-Suroj Maharjan. Amita Giri-Ranjana Bhatta, Pooja Shrestha- Jessica Gurung, Shova Gauchan-Sunayana Mukhiya and Anu Maya Rai-Rasila Maharjan  secured passage to the women’s doubles semis.

The tennis 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.

Under the 11th Sahabir Memorial Open Lawn Tennis Championships, the duo of Ivanhoe Lissanevitch and Nick set the men’s doubles title clash with Kamal Bhandari and Pranav Khanal. Lissanevitch and Nick defeated Chhewang Lama and Nabin Magar 6-4, 6-3. Bhandari and Khanal got the better of Anil Shahi and Pradip Khadka 7-5, 6-4.

APF and New Diamond Academy entered the semi-finals of the sixth National Open Women’s Volleyball Tournament. APF swept aside Dhorpatan Training Centre 25-1, 25-10, 25-2 and New Diamond defeated Jawalakhel Volleyball Training Centre 25-10, 25-5, 25-7.