KATHMANDU, Jan 19: Departmental teams Armed Police Force (APF) and Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) have won gold medals in the team event in men's and women's categories of the ongoing 39th National Badminton Tournament under the National Sports Council (NSC) Championship on Thursday.
APF defeated the other departmental team Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) 3-1 in a 'Best of Five' match. Deepesh Dhami's sublime performance helped APF win the gold medal.
In the first match of men's singles, Dhami beat TAC's Ratnajit Tamang 21-19, 25-23, while TAC's Nabin Shrestha defeated APF's Sajan Krishna Tamrakar 21-15, 21-19 in the second. Likewise, in the third match, APF's Sudeep Sedhain saw off TAC's Praphul Maharjan 21-17, 21-17. Also, in the men's doubles, the APF pair of Dhami and Bijit Thapa Magar won their team a first gold medal of the match as they overcame TAC's Tamang and Nabi 22-20, 17-21, 25-23.
Two golds medals for Jit in archery
In women's team event, TAC claimed the gold medal by beating APF 2-0 in a 'Best of Two' match. Nangsal Devi Tamang of the winning team defeated APF's Sikhshya Shrestha 21-15, 21-18, while TAC's Amita Giri claimed a 22-20, 15-21, 21-18 set victory over APF's Shobha Gauchan to win the gold.
The semifinal lineup of the women's singles of the tournament has been completed which is being played at the Covered Hall in Bhimduttanagar, Kanchanpur. On Thursday, TAC's Nangsal Devi Tamang and Amita Giri and APF's Shobha Gauchan and Sikhshya Shrestha advanced into the last four.
Tamang beat Eastern Region's Sunaina Mukhiya 21-12, 21-15, while Gauchan defeated TAC's Anu Maya Rai 21-15, 19-21, 21-15. Likewise, Shrestha saw off Eastern's Nita Lamsal 21-16, 21-8, while Giri overcame Eastern's Jessica Gurung 21-11, 22-20.
Giri will now take on Shrestha, while Tamang will face Gauchan for the final berths.
Also, in the women's doubles, the TAC pair of Amita Giri and Rasila Maharjan; Nangsal Tamang and Anu Maya Rai have booked their places in the last four.
Giri and Maharjan defeated Eastern's Nita Lamsal and Sima Rajbanshi 21-9, 21-10. The winning pair will now face APF's Puja Shrestha and Sikhshya Shrestha in the last four clash, who beat Far-western's Durga Sharma and Ranjana Bhatta 21-16, 21-12.
Likewise, Nangsal and Anu Maya's pair defeated Midwestern's Samjhana Sharma and Kamana Wali 21-7, 21-11. The winning pair will now take on Eastern's Jessica Gurung and Sunaina Mukhiya, who saw off Western's Akriti KC and Sundara Khanal 21-8, 21-5.