Gananjay and Shekhar pair crowned champions in Hopes Friendly Table Tennis Tournament
KATHMANDU:- The pair of Gananjay Dahal and Shekhar Shrestha emerged as champions at the Hopes Friendly Table Tennis Tournament on Saturday.
In the final of the tournament—organized by the Hopes Table Tennis Academy in Balkumari—the duo of Gananjay and Shekhar defeated the pair of Rivan Bajracharya and Rijan Shakya in sets of 5–11, 11–8, 11–3, 3–11, and 12–10.
Shekhar, the partner of Gananjoy—who has previously participated in the 20th Asian Games—is 68 years old. Held under the main sponsorship of sports enthusiast Suman Khadgi, the tournament awarded a cash prize of 40,000 to the winner and 20,000 to the runner-up.
The winners were awarded prizes by the tournament’s main sponsor, Suman Khadgi. Forty pairs competed in this one-day event, which was organized to exchange greetings on the occasion of Bijaya Dashami.
Participants were allowed to compete in pairs comprising either two men or a man and a woman. The competition featured only a single doubles event.
This friendly tournament was organized to bring the table tennis community together to exchange Dashain greetings and to provide players of all age groups with the opportunity to compete alongside one another.
In the competition, nine-time national champion and five-time consecutive Asian Games participant Nabita Shrestha, national champion Sanyog Kapali, reigning national table tennis runner-up Alex Maharjan, veteran players, and age-group players competed on the same stage.
On Saturday, the main sponsor, Khadgi, also formally inaugurated the Hopes Table Tennis Academy. Prajwal Shrestha, an ITTF Level 2 coach and the academy’s operator, established the facility with an investment of approximately 5 million rupees. The academy currently has 30 trainees. Shrestha stated that Lining sponsored the tables and mats required for the academy.
