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Indian National Team Championships 2005
Bombay, 13-16 November
INDIVIDUAL EVENT |
16-Nov:
It's Maharashtra
By Pradeep Vijayakar
The final round of the squash extravaganza in Mumbai went to
Maharashtra, where it all happened.
Mumbai were host to the Western India, the Nationals and the State
Open and finally the Inter State event.
Tamil Nadu are the new force of Indian squash with state-of-the art
facilities at the India Cements Academy in Chennai where they have
the only regular four-glass wall practice and match play.
But they are not able to generate their own players and offer
training and hostel facilities to players from outside the state who
later play for them in the national events.
These outside players combined with local talent to sweep most of
the titles at the Junior Nationals.
Plus at the individual events in Mumbai the Chennai girls like
Deepika Palikal, Joshna Chinappa, Anwesha Reddy came up trumps. Also
A Parthibhan.
Similarly Delhi produced a winner in Ritwik Bhattachara the National
champ. But both Ritwik and Saurav Ghoshal were not there at the
Inter-state. Maharasthra were at full strength and won the title
beating Tamil Nadu by four matches to one.
Maharashtra 'A', winners from 2000 to 2002, got off to
a flying start when Supreet Singh beat India's leading junior
Harinderpal Singh in straight games in the opening tie.
Maharashtra Open boys under-19 champion A. Parthiban
kept the contest alive when he pulled one back for TN
with a 9-7, 9-3, 9-4 win over Sandeep Jangra in the
following tie.
Manek Mathur ignored the loss of the second game to
overcome Cyril Kuhn and give Maharashtra a 2-1 lead,
before Rishad Pandole clinched the fourth tie to seal
victory for the hosts.
Former national champion Manish Chotrani completed the
formality with a 9-3, 10-8, 9-4 win over B.
Balamurugan in the fifth and concluding tie.
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Results (Final):
Mah. 'A' bt TN 4-1
Supreet Singh bt Harinderpal Singh
9-2, 9-4, 9-7
Sandeep Jangra lost A. Parthiban 7-9, 3-9, 4-9;
Manek Mathur bt Cyril Kuhn
9-5, 2-9, 9-2, 9-2
Rishad Pandole bt Parth Sharma
9-5, 10-8, 9-7
Manish Chotrani bt
B. Balamurugan 9-3, 10-8, 9-4 |
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15-Nov:
Will it be Maharashtra
champs again?
By Pradeep Vijayakar
Mumbai: It's been a long wait. Maharashtra last won the National
inter-state squash title in 2002. Tamil Nadu stepped in. But the
title holders will have a fight on their hands to keep the title as
Manish Chotrani has a host of youngsters around him plus Supreet
Singh and Rishad Pandole, from the famous Pandole clan.
In the semi-finals, Maharashtra beat last year's runners-up Delhi
4-1 while title holders Tamil Nadu survived a scare from Services A
in the other semi-final before winning 3-2.
Maharashtra were led by veteran Manish Chotrani, whose courtcraft
was too much for that retriever, Amajd Khan, in the final tie.
Delhi's Gaurav Nandrajog had played sizzling squash to beat the
talented strokemaker Supreet Singh for the loss of one game in the
opener. Sandeep Jangra and Vikram Malhotra toyed with their
opponents while Rishad Pandole encountered resistance after being
two-up against Naresh Kumar who however lost in the decider.
Tamil nadu's Harinderpal Singh Sandhu, the most improved junior this
season, had a gruelling five-setter against Vikas Jangra. Services
Navneet Narain beat junior champ A Parthiban and AK Chaudhary beat
Cyril Kuhn to take the tie to the decider where Parth Sharma made
the issue safe for Tamil Nadu beating D Sisodia.
The final should be well matched with matches of Balamurgan-Manish
Chotrani, Harinderpal Singh-Supreet Singh and Sandeep-Jangra-A
Parthiban proving decisive.
The last two are 1-1 after the Junior Nationals and State Open.
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Results:
Tamil Nadu bt Services A 4-1:
B Balamurugan bt Shakti Singh 9-4,9-4,9-1; Harinderpal Singh bt
Vikas Jangra 9-4,3-9, 8-10, 9-6,9-6; Navneet Narain bt A Parthiban
9-1,9-4,9-7; AK Chaudhary bt Cyril Kuhn 9-3, 9-1, 9-7; Parth Sharma
bt D sisodia 9-4,9-7,9-1.
Maharashtra A bt Delhi 4-1:
Supreet Singh lost to Gaurav Nandrajog 7-9, 9-1,9-1, 9-4, Vikram
Malhotra bt Varun Prakash 9-0,9-0,9-0; Sandeep Jangra bt Dhruv
Dhawan 9-5,9-2,9-5; Rishad Pandole bt Naresh Kumar 9-5,9-0,7-9, 7-9,
9-5; Manish Chotrani bt Amjad Khan 9-1,9-3,9-5.
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14-Nov:
Tamil Nadu beat Delhi - avoid playing Maharashtra in the semi-finals
By Pradeep Vijayakar
Mumbai: Maharashtra are two matches away from regaining the Inter
state sqush title. Their juniors played around stalwart Manish
Chotrani the former India champ who doesn't play the individual
events to post a 4-1 win over Services A a pale shadow of the strong
teams of the past.
Tamil Nadu the reigning champs posted a 4-1 win over Delhi, a repaet
of last year's final.
Professionals National champ B. Balamurugan won a tough encounter
against Amjad Khan to pave Tamil Nadu's win which helped them avoid
a meeting with Maharashtra in the semi-finals of the Inter State
squash championship at the Otters Club courts.
Amjad saved as many as five match points. Bala was hitting winners
only when deep in trouble. His laxity allowed Amjad to make a match
of it before `Bala sir' as his teammaets kept cheering, tightened
his game and won.
Gaurav Nandrajog beat young gun Harinder Singh in the opening tie
but the rest of the Delhi players caved in.
Veteran Manish Chotrani and juniors Sandep Jangra, Manek Mathur and
Vikram Malhotra took Maharasthra to the semi-finals with a 4-1
success over former champs Services. The lone tie for Services was
pulled out by Vikas Jagra , former Maharahtra lad now with Navy who
beat Supreet Singh in a five-setter.
The state B team blanked Services B with Dhiraj Nagapl, Harjinder
Singh and Rohan Gracious playing stellar roles. Veteran Darius Surti
played some delectabel shots in ahard-earne dwin over N Datta.
Maharashtra play Delhi and Tamil Nadu meet Services in the
semi-finals.
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Results:
Group A:
Maharashtra A bt Services A 4-1: Supreet Singh lost to Vikas
Jangra 3-9,3-9,9-6,9-5, 9-7; Manish Chotrani bnt Shakti Singh
9-2,9-2,9-2; Vikram Malhotra bt A Chaudhary 9-5,9-7,9-2; Manek
Mathur bt D Sisodia 9-1,9-4, 9-5; Sandeep Jangra bt Navneet Narain
9-6, 10-9, 9-5.
Group B
Tamil Nadu bt Delhi 4-1: Harinderpal Singh lost to Gaurav
Nandrajog 5-9,0-9,5-9; Parth Sharma bt Naresh Kumar
9-4,5-9,7-9,9-7,9-0; Balamurugan bt Amjad Khan 6-9,9-4,9-6,10-8;
Cyril Kuhn bt Col RajmohanSingh 9-4,9-34,9-7; A Parthibhan bt Roop
Dhawan 3-9,9-1, 9-4,9-2.
Maharashtra B bt Services B 5-0: Dhiraj Nagpal bt K Bhandari 9-3,9-3
9-3; Darius Surti bt N Datta 9-5,9-4, 10-9; Avinash Bhavnani i w.o.
A Sharma ; Harjinder Singh bt Suri 9-1, 9-6, 9-3; Rohan Gracious bt
Shahani 9-3, 9-4, 9-7.
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Poor response for
Indian
Inter-State Squash Champs
By Pradeep Vijayakar
Mumbai: On a pleasant Sunday afternoon at the Otters Club in
suburban Mumbai things were quiet except for the sound of the squash
ball. India's seven teams were playing in the National Inter state
squash championship.
But the fare was not very inspiring. The future of the game lies
more among the young. Of the 27 Indian states just seven are
playing. There are no women's nationals. Sad going for Indian
squash.
Time was when Services ruled the roost and half the Indian team were
from the armed forces. Now all that is past. Services are
professionally run and sports is taking a back seat. The only
consolation is that they have two teams here with one making the
semis.
Maharashtra were the oft-crowned national champions but that is also
passe.
But there is a hope of a revival. As Tamil Nadu and Delhi are
missing the services of Saurav Ghoshal and Ritwik Bhattacharya,
Maharashtra who are at full strength, stand to regain their title
which they haven't held for some time now.
Defending champions Tamil Nadu and last year's runners-up Delhi
registered their second consecutive wins in Pool 'B' to advance to
the semi-finals.
TN blanked Services 'B' 5-0, while Delhi overcame Maharashtra 'B'
4-1. Tamil Nadu will face Delhi in their concluding tie on Monday,
that will decide who tops the pool.
Joining them in the semi-finals were Maharashtra 'A' and Services
'A', who fashioned identical 5-0 wins over Chandigarh in Pool 'A',
that has only three teams.
Maharashtra 'A' will thus take on Services 'A' in the concluding
tie, that will decide which team tops Pool 'A'.
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RESULTS:
Pool 'A':
Mah. 'A' bt Chandigarh 5-0 (Supreet Singh bt Sanampreet Sekhon
9-0, 9-2, 9-1; Rishad Pandole bt Bhavneet Suchde 9-0, 9-3, 9-0;
Sandeep Jangra bt Pranav Sharma 9-0, 9-0, 9-2; Manek Mathur bt
Ishaan Vadhra 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Vikram Malhotra bt Pranav Sood 9-0,
9-0, 9-0.).
Services 'A' bt Chandigarh 5-0 (Navneet Narain bt Bhavneet Suchde
9-1, 9-0, 9-0; A. Chaudhari bt Pranav Sood 9-1, 9-0, 9-3; D. Sisodia
bt Ishaan Vadhra 9-3, 9-1, 9-0; Vikas Jangra bt Sanampreet Sekhon
9-0, 9-2, 9-3; Shakti Singh bt Pranav Sharma 9-1, 9-0, 9-0).
Pool 'B':
TN bt Services 'B' 5-0 (A. Parthiban bt C. Saini 9-2, 9-3, 9-6;
Parth Sharma bt M. Bhandari 9-1, 9-4, 9-6; Harinderpal Singh bt C.
Suri 9-5, 10-8, 9-7; Cyril Kuhn w/o A. Sharma; B. Balamurugan bt
Nitin Dutta 9-0, 9-3, 9-5).
Delhi bt Mah. 'B': 4-1 (Dhruv Dhawan bt Rohan Gracias 9-1, 9-1, 9-4;
Col. Raj lost to Naishad Lalwani 5-9, 9-6, 5-9, 2-9; Amjad Khan bt
Darius Surti 9-5, 9-1, 8-10, 9-6; Gaurav Nandrajog bt Harjinder
Singh 9-1, 9-1, 9-0; Naresh Kumar bt Dhiraj Nagpal 9-1, 1-9, 9-5,
9-3). |
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