Nepali shuttler Ratnajit Tamang secured a men’s singles quarter-final berth  in the Nepal International Badminton Series 2016 here at the National  Sports Council covered hall on Wednesday.

The third-seeded local shuttler beat Aman Kumar of India 21-13, 21-19 and  will meet another Indian opponent Siddharth Thakur, who beat Quang Huy Dang  16-21, 21-14, 21-15, for a place in the semi-finals. Others to make it to  the last eight in the men’s singles include Tushar Krishna Roy and Mohammad  Salman Khan of Bangladesh, Duc Phat Le and Cao Cuong Pham of Vietnam,  Rizwan Azam of Pakistan and Abhishek Yelegar of India. Two other Nepali players Dipesh Dhami and Bishnu Katwal crashed out of the  men’s singles event. Dhami lost 21-13, 21-12 to Phat Le and Katwal went  down to Yelegar 21-16, 21-11.

Sichhya Shrestha also carried the Nepali flag into the women’s singles  quarter-finals with a battling 22-20, 19-21, 21-17 win over Alina Sultana  of Bangladesh. She will play Thuy Linh Nguyen of Vietnam in the last eight  clash. Another Nepali shuttler Megha Chand also made it to the women’s  singles quarter-finals after receiving a walkover from Indian opponent  Rasike Raje of India. Chand is yet to enter the court after also receiving  a first round bye.

Dhami and Ratnajit Tamang then combined to secure a men’s doubles  quarter-final berth on Wednesday. The Nepali shuttler duo rallied from a  set down to beat the pair of Mohammad Anamul Haque and Moajjam Hossain of  Bangladesh 18-21, 21-16, 21-6.

Three other Nepali men’s doubles pair crashed out from the first round.  Deepak Bohara/Bhugol Gurung lost 21-18, 9-21, 21-13 to Hussein Zayan  Shaheed/Nasheeu Sharafuddeen of Maldives, Irfan Ansari/Sanjeev Khadka lost  to Arun Geor ge/Saurabh Sharma 21-9, 21-10, and Bijeet Thapa Magar/Bishnu  Katwal went down 21-14, 21-10 against Quang Huy Dang/Duc Giang Nguyen of  Vietnam.

Two Nepali pairs lost first round matches in the women’s doubles  event on Wednesday. The pair of Megha Chand and Sunaina Mukhiya lost 21-8,  21-11 to Aktar Shapla and Alina Sultana of Bangladesh. Amita Giri and  Sichhya Shrestha went down to Anoushka Parikh and Harika Veludurthi of  India 21-7, 21-8. Two other Nepali pair—Pooja Shrestha/Nangsal and Shova  Gauchan/Anu Maya Rai—are already assured of quarter-final berth after  receiving first round byes.

In all 76 players from nine nations are taking part in five different events: men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles.