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Indian National Championships 2005
Bombay, 09-11 November
TEAM EVENT |
11-Nov-05:
Ritwik wrests Indian
National crown from Saurav
By Pradeep Vijayakar
 Mumbai: The Indian national
men's squash title has just changed hands.
Ritwik Bhattacharya,
three-time champion, added a fourth victory when wresting the
Commander-in-Chief trophy from Saurav Ghoshal in the final of
the 53rd ICICI-Lombard National Squash Championship at the Bombay
Gymkhana courts on Friday.
Ritwik's earlier successes were in 1998, 2000, 2003.
Ritwik's drops were very good and that's why Saurav, who is normally
in control of things, came up short today despite raising hopes of
retaining the title when he levelled the match at one game all.
Ritwik will miss the inter-state event which follows, as he plays in
the PSA Malaysian Open in Kuala
Lumpur, while Saurav goes to Surrey to play in the qualifying event
for the Saudi International.
 World
No 2 junior Joshna Chinappa won the women's title with a
straight games win over Dr Shruti Parikh, a homeoepathic
doctor from Mumbai who was a regular semi-finalist in days past.
This was Joshna's third win in a row.
Mumbai Masters
A few national titles came Mumbai's way in the Masters. Vaman Apte
won the Masters 45-49 age group event for the fourth year.
Raj Arora
won the Masters 40-44 beating fellow CCI player Deepak Kochhar the
top seed.
Former state player-turned-race horse trainer Darius Surti
won the Masters 35-39 title beating Bobby Bajaj.
"I have twenty horses under me for the new Mumbai season commencing
on November 20,'' said a delighted Surti.
Pradeep Vijayakar
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Men's Final:
Ritwik Bhattacharya (Del) bt
Saurav Ghosal (TN)
9-3, 3-9, 9-4, 9-5.
Women's Final:
Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt
Deepali Anwekar-Parikh (Mah)
9-4, 9-0, 9-2.
"I am certainly enjoying my squash. I think playing the CCI-Western
India Open last week was a nice way to warm up for the big
occasion.
"Of course, it wasn't easy. Saurav is a good player and he did
well today. But I played a tactically good game, though I
shouldn't have committed the errors I made especially when I
was in complete control.
"But it is always good to compete with quality players like
Saurav. He's the next strong player and it's good for India."
Ritwik Bhattacharya |
Saurav Ghosal |
Sachika shows character
to win u-15 title
By Pradeep Vijayakar in Mumbai
Bombay Scottish schoolgirl Sachika
Balwani had to play two finals in the 30th Maharashtra State
Open squash championships at the Bombay Gymkhana courts on Friday
evening.
She lost the under-13 girls to Ankita Sharma, daughter of top
cop Pradeep Sharma, but turned the tables on Saumya Karki in
the under-15.
After making silly errors with the volley drop Sachika was quick to
play to length and some lucky shots into the nick in the back court
helped her.
"I have been playing Saumya for a long time now and know her weak
points,'' said the Otters Club girl who said she put behind her
earlier loss. She gave credit to brother Ishaan for guiding her in
the early stages.
Sachika won the Raju Chainani award this year along with Aditya
Jagtap.
"I received a lot of encouragement from Raju uncle, especially in
Malaysia and I remember him today.''
Jindal lad Sandeep Jangra squandered a 6-0 lead in the
decider to lost to Chennai's A Parthibhan in the under-19
boys final, an 85-minute thriller.
It was a reverse of the Junior National final which Sandeep won.
"His better fitness told,'' said Parthiban's coach Cyrus Poncha.
Watching the win was SRFI secretary N Ramachandran and India
coach Maj Maniam, who have been instrumental in Parthiban's
rise from a humble background.
Vikram Malhotra's courtcraft was superior but Harinderpal
Singh's fitness told in his favour in the under-17 final. Second
seed Mahesh Mangaonkar had a pulsating 6-9, 2-9, 9-3, 9-2,
9-7 triumph over arch-rival and top seed Abhishek Pradhan,
who frittered away a 2-0 lead.
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Maharashta State Open finals:
BOYS
U-19: A. Parthiban (TN) bt Sandeep Jangra (Mah) 9-7, 8-10, 9-3, 5-9,
9-6.
U-17: Harinderpal Singh (TN) bt Vikram Malhotra (Mah) 8-10, 9-0,
9-1, 10-9.
U-15: Ravi Dixit (Del) bt Amay Merchant (Mah) 9-7, 9-5, 9-4.
U-13: Mahesh Mangaonkar (Mah) bt Abhishek Pradhan 6-9, 2-9, 9-3,
9-2, 9-7.
U-11: Ishaan Advani (Mah) bt Arjun Kochhar (Mah) 9-5, 9-4, 1-9, 9-7.
U-9: Kunj Rawani (Mah) bt Aditya Khatri (Mah) 4-9, 9-4, 9-6, 6-9,
9-4.
GIRLS
U-19: Anwesha Reddy (TN) bt Madhura Paranjpe (Mah) 9-4, 9-1, 9-4.
U-17: Surbhi Misra (Raj) bt Shivangi Paranjpe (Mah) 9-7, 4-9, 9-5,
9-5.
U-15: Sachika Balwani (Mah) bt Saumya Karki (Mah) 9-1, 4-9, 9-2,
9-7.
U-13: Ankita Sharma (Mah) bt Sachika Balwani (Mah) 9-6, 10-8, 9-5.
U-11: Lakshaya Raghavan (TN) bt Aishwarya Kulkarni (Mah) 9-4, 8-10,
9-0, 9-5.
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Ritwik on
comeback trail
By Pradeep Vijayakar
Can Ritwik Bhattacharya regain his Indian National men's
crown?
Saurav Ghoshal, the British Open Junior champ of 2003 stands
in his way.
That was the question after semi-final day of the ICICI Lombard 53rd
National Squash Championship at the Bombay Gymkhana courts on
Thursday.
The gymkhana has been holding their State Open for the last 30 years
but this is the first time that they are holding a National. Their
five glass-back courts are superb and the ambience in the avenued
streets of downton Mumbai's business district is great. In fact one
saw several executives of nearby Standered Chartered Bank popping in
and out of the squash arena. One, Ashish Vijayakar, has been trying
in vain for three days to see Ritwik but he was rewarded only on
semi final day when Delhi lad Gaurav Nandrajog gave him a run.
The other semifinal pitted Ghoshal against fast improving
Harinderpal Singh.
Harinder trained at the India Cements Academy is also set to win the
under-19 title.
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Ritwik & Saurav in Manchester |
The
women's will be a piece of cake for Joshna Chinappa. The
Chennai lass won the Cricket Club of India title last week and has
got a shot in the arm with the newly-formed trust Mittal Champions
Trust, by tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, having identified her as the
first budding champ to be helped.
The trust is owned by Laxmi Mittal one of the richest NRIs of India
and has pledged Rs 40 crore for sportsfolk.
The sponsorship will fast track Joshna's playing on the circuit and
she may play from January .
Meeting Joshna at the Nationals was 16 times women's champ
Bhuvaneshwari Kumari who is a Princess of Alwar. She is now into
coaching.
There's also Raj Manchanda six time Indian champ who is also
coaching and some of his lads are doing well here.
It's a great atmosphere in Mumbai this squash fortnight which will
get longer as we have our Inter state championship next week when
Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Maharashtra will hunt for the spoils.
But the big question will always be there: how many of these champs
can we retain in India and not allow to go to the Ivy League?
Pradeep Vijayakar |
Ritwik Bhattacharya
RESULTS (All Semi-finals):
Sr. Nat.: Men: Ritwik Bhattacharya (Del) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (Del)
1-9, 9-3, 9-2, 9-3; Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Harinderpal Singh (TN)
9-2, 9-3, 9-0.
Women: Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Surbhi Mishra (Raj) 9-3, 9-3, 9-3;
Deepali Parikh (Mah) bt Shivangi Paranjpe (Mah) 9-3, 9-1, 9-2.
Professionals: B. Balamurugan (TN) bt Rohit More (Mah) 9-2, 9-2,
9-2; Dalip Tripathi (WB) bt Vijay M. Sonawane (Mah) 9-2, 9-1, 9-5.
Mah. State Open: Boys U-19: Sandeep Jangra (Mah) bt Naresh Kumar
(Del) 9-6, 9-3, 9-1; A. Parthiban (TN) bt Manek Mathur (Mah) 9-8,
9-0, 9-0.
Boys U-17: Harinderpal Singh (TN) bt Parth Sharma (TN) 10-8, 9-4,
7-9, 9-6; Vikram Malhotra bt Naishad Lalwani 9-6, 10-8, 10-9.
Boys U-15: Ravi Dixit (Del) bt Aakash Borwankar 9-1, 9-1, 9-6; Amay
Merchant bt Aditya Gupta 4-9, 9-1, 9-7, 6-9, 9-7.
Boys U-13: Abhishek Pradhan bt Aakash Borwankar 10-8, 9-3, 9-5;
Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Rohan A. Vora 9-0, 9-5,
9-2.
Boys U-11: Ishaan Advani bt Raghav Mehrotra 9-0, 9-5, 9-1; Arjun
Kochhar bt Aviroop Ghosal 9-2, 9-1, 9-5.
U-9: Kunj Rawani bt Arman Kothari 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Aditya Khatri bt
Yohan Pandole (Mah) 10-9, 7-9, 1-9, 10-9, 9-7.
Girls U-19: Anwesha Reddy (TN) bt Shahnaz Dastur 9-1, 9-2, 9-6;
Madhura Paranjpe bt Avani Shetty 9-3, 9-1, 9-0.
Girls U-17: Surbhi Mishra (Raj) bt Shaheen Madraswala 9-2, 9-2, 9-2;
Shivangi Paranjpe bt Harita Omprakash
(TN) 9-10, 9-3, 9-4, 9-1.
Girls U-15: Saumya Karki bt Shaheen Madraswala 9-4, 5-9, 6-9, 9-6,
9-5; Sachika Balwani (Mah) bt Ankita Sharma (Mah) 1-9, 9-7, 9-6,
6-9, 9-3.
Girls U-13: Sachika Balwani bt Shria Khatri 9-6, 6-9, 9-6, 9-0;
Ankita Sharma bt Saumya Karki 9-2, 7-9, 9-4, 0-9, 9-2.
Girls U-11: Lakshaya Raghavan (TN) bt Nandini Agarwal (Goa) 9-2,
9-0, 9-0; Aishwarya Kulkarni bt Nandini Mullaji 9-5, 9-4, 9-7.
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