After refinement, the news summary is prepared. Sanyog Kapali and Navita Shrestha emerged as champions in the men’s and women’s open singles categories respectively at the second Pushparaj Memorial National Open Table Tennis Tournament. In the men’s final, Sanyog defeated Rubin Maharjan in a five-set match, while Navita triumphed over Ivana Thapa in the women’s final. The competition saw 200 players contesting across six events, with winners receiving a total cash prize of NPR 200,000. Kathmandu, 19 Baisakh.
Sanyog Kapali and Navita Shrestha stood tall as champions in the open singles category at the second Pushparaj Memorial National Open Table Tennis Tournament held on Saturday. Sanyog won the men’s title and Navita secured the women’s title; both players represent the Nepal Police Sports Club. In the men’s final held at the National Table Tennis Training Center in Lazimpat, Sanyog defeated AVM’s Rubin Maharjan with set scores of 8–11, 17–15, 11–9, 6–11, and 11–9. Gunanjay Dahal of Police and Himal Bist from Vision Table Tennis Academy earned third place.
The tournament was organized by the Kholcha Pukhu Sports Subcommittee with primary sponsorship from Ward No. 11, Lalitpur Metropolitan City. In the women’s singles, nine-time national champion Navita beat AVM’s Ivana Thapa by 11–8, 12–14, 11–6, 7–11, and 15–13. AVM’s Bianka Rai and Vision’s Yongi Paudel shared third place.
In the veterans category for men over 40 years, Mahesh Shrestha from Kathmandu Metropolitan Ward 25 secured first place, followed by AVM’s Rajkumar Shahi in second, and Mukesh Maharjan from Ikhachen and Umesh Manandhar from Kathmandu tied for third. Jay Maharjan of AVM claimed the gold medal in the men’s singles over 50 years category. Rakt Manandhar from Naxal won silver, while Nadimratna Shakya of Kholcha Pukhu and Rajendra Bajracharya from Ikhachen took bronze medals.
The men’s singles veterans category for players over 60 years was supported by the Lalitpur District Table Tennis Association and managed by Spin Events Pvt. Ltd. Ashok Sharma from Kathmandu-2 achieved first place, Rajan Subba of HOPS took second, and Prakash Dhakwa from Kholcha Pukhu along with Shardaman Shrestha from Ikhachen earned third place.
In the U-16 mixed youth competition, AVM’s Arav Mall, Ikhachen’s Soyam Maharjan, Ikhachen’s Suprince Maharjan, and Kholcha Pukhu’s Nirbhik Shakya secured the top four positions respectively. Competitors in this event hailed only from Ward No. 11 of Lalitpur Metropolitan City.
The winners were honored in a ceremony by Lalitpur Metropolitan City Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, Ward No. 11 Chairman Aroj Kumar Khadgi, Vice President of the All Nepal Table Tennis Association Purna Shankar Shrestha, Bagmati Province Sports Development Council member Ravi Maharjan, and chief coach Mohandas Basu among others.
The two-day tournament featured 200 participants contesting across six disciplines. A total cash prize of NPR 200,000 was distributed among medalists from all events.
