Nepali Tennis Squad Seeks Breakthrough at Asian Games Amid Heavy Exits
A gritty men's doubles victory by Pradeep Khadka and Abhisek Bastola provided Nepal a rare tennis highlight at the 20th Asian Games as youthful squad members bowed out against continental powerhouses.
NAGOYA, Japan — Nepal's tennis contingent at the 20th Asian Games is facing steep competition in Aichi Prefecture, with early exits across several draws balanced by a lone victory in men's doubles that marked a rare continental milestone for the country.
According to reporting by Nagarik News, the pairing of Pradeep Khadka and Abhisek Bastola secured a hard-fought opening-round win against Mongolia's Munkhbaatar Badrakh and Urnukh Jolbadar at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre. After taking the first set 6–2 and dropping the second 4–6, the Nepali pair held their nerve in a marathon super tiebreak to prevail 14–12. Head coach Renu Devi Konda commended the duo's on-court chemistry, praising Khadka's baseline consistency and Bastola's execution on decisive points.
The pair's second-round clash against Indian opponents Anirudh Chandrasekar and Balaji Narayanaswamy was delayed on Monday due to persistent rain, both Nagarik News and The Rising Nepal reported. The fixture was rescheduled for Tuesday alongside singles encounters, where Khadka faces Thailand's Kasidit Samrej and Bastola takes on Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan after both received opening-round byes.
Elsewhere on the court, Nepal's younger competitors endured lopsided results against established regional powerhouses. In women's singles, 15-year-old Shivali Gurung fell 6–1, 6–0 to South Korea's Back Da-yeon, while 16-year-old Swastika Bista was defeated 6–1, 6–1 by Japan's Moyuka Uchijima, Nagarik News reported. The teenage pair then teamed up in the women's doubles draw on Monday, suffering a swift 6–0, 6–0 loss against Japan's Momoko Kobori and Ayano Shimizu, according to coverage by The Rising Nepal.
Despite the one-sided scorelines, team officials framed the tournament as an essential developmental benchmark. Nepal Tennis Association General Secretary and team manager Naresh Bahadur Shrestha told Nagarik News that competing against elite regional players offered indispensable learning, though he acknowledged that the absence of adequate funding and modern domestic infrastructure severely caps the ceiling of local prospects. Bastola echoed those concerns, telling The Rising Nepal that overcoming top-flight international competitors requires sustained long-term financial backing and thousands of hours of high-level match exposure that Nepal currently cannot provide.
The tennis struggles reflect Nepal's broader campaign in Japan, where podium appearances remain sparse across the 21 competing disciplines. The Rising Nepal noted that distance runners Santoshi Shrestha and Purna Neupane also missed out on top finishes in Monday's women's 5,000-metre final at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, leaving Nepal's overall medal count at two bronze medals heading into the final stages of the Games.