Tribhuvan Army Club (TAC) shuttler Ratnajit Tamang continued his domination in the Pushpa Lal Memorial National Open Badminton Championships with his seventh consecutive title on Saturday.

On his way to claiming seven titles in a row, Ratnajit got the better of Dipesh Dhami of Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club 21-11, 21-16 in the final at the National Sports Council covered hall. Dhami was expected to give Nepal No 1 Ratnajit a tough fight following his title triumph in the Annapurna Corporate Badminton but on Saturday, the APF shuttler was below par. The victory also handed Ratnajit a cash purse of Rs 50,000. Dhami got Rs 20,000.

Losing semi-finalists Nabin Shrestha and Rukesh Maharjan took Rs 10,000 apiece. If the men’s title belonged to Ratnajit, his sister Nangsal Devi marked a triumphant comeback beating fellow TAC-mate Rashila Maharjan 22-20, 15-21, 21-18.

Nangsal had lost the last edition to Jessica Maharjan but she made sure of retaining the title with a fighting win. She got Rs 50,000 and Maharjan took Rs 25,000. Joint third place finishers Shobha Gauchan and Gurung got Rs 10,000 each.

Ratnajit had earlier handed Army its first title after he combined with Nabin Shrestha to beat the APF pair of Dhami and Bijit Thapa Magar 22-20, 20-22, 21-11 in the men’s doubles final. Another TAC pair Rukesh and Praful Maharjan along with APF’s Gautam Kathayat and Sunil Joshi had lost in the semi-finals.

Gurung earned some solace in the tournament after she won the women’s doubles title with Puja Shrestha. The Gurung and Shrestha pair overcame Nangsal and Rashila 21-13, 21-14. Sita Rai and Samjhana Sharma had lost in the semi-finals along with Amita Giri and Anu Maya Rai. The top three finishers in both the categories got Rs 20,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively.

Prince Dahal, who had won silver medal in the Dubai Junior International Series, of Silk Group won the U-17 boys’ singles title easing to a 21-16, 21-5 victory over Diwash Shankar of TAC in the final. Rashila claimed the girls’ trophy beating clubmate Ranjana Bhatta 21-5, 21-5.

The duo of Subhash Shrestha and Bhumi Gurung won the masters above-45 years final beating Nabin Babu Shrestha and Shyam Parajuli 16-21, 21-16, 21-16. The top three in this category received Rs 20,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 each.