Prince, Praful set up final rematch

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 2: Prince Dahal and Praful Maharjan will face each other in the final of the 13th Pushpalal Memorial National Ranking Badminton Tournament 2080. Prince, representing the APF Club, beat his clubmate Devraj Rana 21-7, 21-12 , while Praful from Lalitpur overcame Sunil Joshi of Nepal Police Club 21-14, 21-13 in the top-8 men’s singles semifinals held on Friday. 

This is not the first time that Prince and Praful will compete in a final. They faced each other in the final of the last edition of the Pushpalal Memorial, where Prince emerged victorious. However, Praful had defeated Prince in the final of the 3rd Prime Minister Cup. Prince later got the better of Praful twice in the finals of the 2nd Lalitpur Mayor’s Cup and Prakash Dahal Memorial National Badminton.

In the top-8 women’s singles semifinals, Rashila Maharjan of Lalitpur defeated Nita Lamsal of Nepal Police 21-16, 21-16 to set up a title showdown with Nangshal Tamang from Bhojpur, who beat Anumaya Rai of Tribhuvan Army Club 21-14, 24-22.

In addition to competing for the title, Prince will also be honoured by the National Badminton Association, Nepal. As the winner of the 10th, 11th, and 12th editions of the Pushpalal Memorial tournament, Prince will receive a motorbike from the association during the tournament’s conclusion ceremony.

Finally, the association has also arranged insurance for the players competing in the tournament. The players will be covered by accident insurance worth Rs. 500,000, which is being provided for the first time. A total of 274 players are participating in the tournament.