The Machhapuchhre Pokhara Open Tennis Tournament, which has been running continuously for two decades, is starting from Thursday. The 21st Machhapuchhre Pokhara Open and Veterans Tennis Tournament will be held at the Pokhara Rangshala Tennis Court under the organization of the Kaski District Tennis Association.
The association held a press conference on Wednesday and informed that all the preparations for the competition have been completed. In the competition under the main sponsorship of Machhapuchhre Bank, singles and doubles for women and men and veterans will compete in the age groups of 35, 45, 55 and 65 years. According to
tournament coordinator and vice president of the association, Navin Chalisele, players from various districts and provinces of Nepal including India, Bhutan, Britain, Japan, Hong Kong and other countries will come to Pokhara to participate in the tournament. Along with Nepal's top ranked Pradeep Khadka, Jitendra Periyar, Kamal Bhandari, Arav Samrat Hada, Nehaljung Thapa, Rohit Sunuwar, Manoj Rana and women's players Sunira Thapa, Saloni Tamang and others will participate in the Open.
Tournament Director Kumar Adhikari said that more than 100 players including 31 players in men's singles, 11 players in women's singles, 32 players over 35 years, 29 players over 45 years, 20 players over 55 years will compete in the tournament. Rajkumar Gurung, president of
association, said that the tournament, which has been held every year for two decades, has given significant support to Pokhara's sports tourism. Bishnu Bahadur Thapa, treasurer of the association informed that more than 21 lakh rupees will be spent to complete the competition. He said that only about 8 lakh rupees will be spent on the award. Men's and women's singles winners will get 80,000 rupees and runners-up will get 40,000 rupees for
open. The players who reached the semi-finals will receive 20,000 rupees each. In men's and women's doubles, the winner will get Rs 30,000 and the runner-up will get Rs 15,000. The team that reached the semi-finals will receive 10,000 rupees each.
Singles winner above 35 years of age will receive 60 thousand rupees, runner-up 30 thousand, semi-finalist 15-15 thousand, doubles winner above 35 years of age 20 thousand, runner-up 10 thousand, semi-finalist 10-10 thousand. Singles winner above 45 years of age will get Rs 40,000, runner-up Rs 20,000 and semi-finalist Rs 10,000 each. The doubles winner above 45 years will get Rs 20,000 and the runner-up will get Rs 10,000 .
On that occasion, Vice President of Nepal Tennis Association Vinod Kayastha said that this tournament is the longest continuously held tournament in Nepal's tennis history.
