Sports
Hosts Nepal lose to Bangladesh
Hosts Nepal were confined to a runner-up spot as Bangladesh and India claimed the South Asian Regional Qualifying for the ITF Asian 12 & Under Team Tennis Championship at the Satdobato Tennis Courts on Friday.Hosts Nepal were confined to a runner-up spot as Bangladesh and India claimed the South Asian Regional Qualifying for the ITF Asian 12 & Under Team Tennis Championship at the Satdobato Tennis Courts on Friday.
Nepali team, which registered their first ever victory over India in the sport on Thursday’s semi-finals lost to Bangladesh 3-0. Nepal’s Aarav Samrat Hada lost to Md Roman Hussain 6-3, 6-2 and Aryan Giri went down to Mahadi Hasan Alve 6-2, 6-3. Hada then combined with Aki Jubain Rawat, playing his first and last game of the tournament, in the doubles and lost to Hossain and Zubaed Utsho 6-3, 6-3.
The bright spot for Nepal is they have qualified for the Asian 12 & Under Team Championship to be held in Kazakhstan in December this year. The finalists in both the boys’ and girls’ section qualified for the regional event, which will be organised for the first time by the International Tennis Federation and Asian Tennis Federation.
India dominated the girls’ final easing to a 3-0 victory over Sri Lanka. Sweta Samantha inflicted a double bagel on Dewmini Warnasuriya and Anjali Rathi beat Heshani Imanga 6-1, 6-1. The duo of Shruti Ahlawat and Rathi then overcame the Sri Lankan pair 6-0, 6-0. Indian and Sri Lanka had booked their tickets to Kazakhstan.
Nepali girls, who had lost to Sri Lanka in the semi-finals on Thursday to miss out on the regional meet, ended up third by seeing off Bangladesh 3-0. Sharvani Shrestha beat Dipanta Mittra 6-2, 6-0 and Isha Shree Shah dispatched Sadia Afrin 6-2, 6-1. Shubhangee Laxmi Shah joined Shrestha in the doubles to beat Mittra and Mashfia Afrin 6-1, 6-2.
Meanwhile, India beat Bhutan 3-0 to finish third in the boys’ section and Sri Lanka defeated Maldives 3-0 in the girls’ third place playoff. A total of 13 teams—seven in boys and six in girls—participated in the tournament. Pakistan had skipped the girls’ events.
The regional qualifying is the third international tournament organised by the All Nepal Lawn Tennis Association (ANLTA) in the last nine months. It had previously organised ANLTA-Asian Ranking U-14 Tennis Championship in September and Nepal ITF U-18 Junior Grade-5 Tennis Championship in February last year.