Nepal’s boys team advanced to the final of the South Asian Regional Qualifying for the ITF Asian 12 & Under Team Championships at the Satdobato Tennis Court on Thursday.

The Nepali team of Aarav Samrat Hada and Aryan Giri registered a 2-1 win over India. Irrespective of outcome in the final, the duo booked tickets to the ITF Asian U-12 Team Championship to be held in Kazakhstan in December. Hada and Giri will take on Bangladeshi team, who saw off Bhutan in the other semi-final match 3-0, in the final. Hada beat Balaji Latha Nallijsamy 6-2, 6-3  but his teammate Giri suffered a 6-1, 6-0 defeat against Ayushman Arjeria. But the pair of Hada and Giri held their nerves to win the deciding doubles match 7-5, 6-4.

In the other boys semi-finals, Md Roman Hossain eased to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Thinley Dorji and Hadadi Hasan Alve saw off Jigme Norbu 6-2, 62 in the singles event to seal their passage into the final. The Bangladeshi team then inflicted a double bagel on Bhutani team in the doubles match. 

The Nepali girls crashed out of the semi-finals after losing all three games against Sri Lanka, who will take on India for the title. Sharvani Shrestha lost 7-5, 7-6 to Dharmarate and Isha Shree Shah went down 6-0, 6-0 to Imanga. The Nepali pair also lost the doubles match 6-1, 6-2.

In the other girls’ semi-finals, India won both the singles and doubles matches against Bangladesh. Sweta Samanta and Anjali Rathi recorded an identical 6-1, 6-1 wins over Sadia Afrin and Mashfia Afrin respectively in the singles. The Indian pair was even ruthless in the doubles, inflicting Bangladesh a double bagel. Both the finals will be held on Friday.