Nepali shuttlers will be competing in the US Open Grand Prix Badminton Championship scheduled to be held in California, USA, from July 5 to 10.
The Nepali team consists of Tamang siblings – Nangsal Devi and Ratnajeet, the top ranked female and male shuttlers of Nepal and number two male player Bikash Shrestha. The players will be accompanied by Nepal Badminton Association Vice President Subhash Shrestha as the team leader.
Nepal is participating in the championship for the first time in eight years. The 2008 edition of the tournament saw participation of then top Nepali players including the top two male players Pashupati Paneru and Balaram Thapa and women’s number one Sumina Shrestha. All of them later settled in the USA.
Both Ratnajit and Bikash will compete in men’s singles and doubles events while Nangsal will compete in women’s singles and also pair with Bikash for mixed doubles.
Nepal Badminton Association officials including President Ramji Bahadur Shrestha, Vice President Uday Shrestha, General Secretary Birendra Shrestha and deputy director of training department at the National Sports Council Arjun BK among others bade farewell to the team.