Photo: Left to Right Mr Darius Udwadia, President, Bombay Gymkhana with Sachika Ingale & Aditya Jagtap the Winners of Women's and Men's open at the Bombay Gymkhana 42nd Maharashtra State Open Squash tournament.
Aditya, Sachika emerge champsMumbai, September 4:
Top seed Sachika Ingale of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra’s second seed Aditya Jagtap, were crowned women’s and men’s champions respectively, in the Bombay Gymkhana 42nd Maharashtra State Open Squash tournament, being organised by Bombay Gym under the aegis of SRFI and Maharashtra Squash Rackets Association. The tournament is being powered by JSW, while the associate sponsors for the event include Indospace, K Raheja Group, Shoppers Stop, Ellora Project Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Myntra, Cipla Imunno Booster and Nykaa.
In the summit clash, the more agile Ingale prevailed over second seed Urvashi Joshi of Maharashtra in four games at 13-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5. Meanwhile, Jagtap showing great persistent managed to brush aside the doughty fight from Abhishek Pradhan in three games winning at 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.
Jagtap pocketed the winner's cheque of Rs 1.3 lakhs, while Pradhan for his superb showing received Rs 75,000. The women’s champion Ingale was presented with a cheque of Rs 40,000 while Joshi walked away with the runners-up prize of Rs 25,000.Ingale and Urvashi both went flat out and played at a fast pace as they tried their best to outwit each other. The lead changed hands a couple of times in the first game, which the UP player managed to win over extra points.
In the second Ingale trailed 0-3 initially, but then she reeled off six points on the trot to wrest the advantage, which she held to close out the second game and take a 2-0 lead. Urvashi, a true fighter came back to win the third to reduce the deficit, but she completely lost the momentum in the fourth and made far too many unforced errors. Ingale won more than the half the number of points as Urvashi repeatedly hit the tin in the fourth game.
“I was quite positive of winning and it was a really good contest. She (Joshi) kept the pace fast and I found my length and range of strokes and it worked well for me. But I had to be cautious as she would punish me whenever I played some loose shots or committed mistakes,” stated Ingale as she finished cooling down after the match.
“This tournament and the victory boosts my confidence for the challenges ahead. I will be immediately leaving for Malaysia to participate in two PSA events which start in a couple of days time and I hope to do well and try to improve my ranking. I am currently ranked 83 and would like to go higher as I was 71 last year,” the UP player mentioned.
The men’s final was an absorbing affair as both Jagtap and Pradhan were engaged in a slug-fest as they played some aggressive strokes and preferred to execute their shot from the back court. They both traded winners and the scores ran close in all the three games. But, Jagtap who remained calm and played steadily managed to come through to clinch a deserving win.
Top seeds Tanay, Navaneeth advance to last 8
Top seed Tanay Punjabi of India got the better of Karim Farrag of the Czech Republic in a four game thriller in a boys’ under-15 pre-quarter-final of the Bombay Gymkhana organised 9th Indian Junior Open Squash tournament, an Asian Squash Federation Platinum tournament and a 5-Star tournament on the Indian Junior squash circuit.Tanay recovered after losing the first game and fought back to register a 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 victory to advance to the quarter-finals. India’s second seed Navaneeth Prabhu S pulled off a close 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 win against compatriot Aaryaman Jaising to also book his place in the last eight round.In a girls’ under-17 second round encounters, top seed Amita Gondi from USA easily defeated Iteeva Pande of India 11-3, 11-3, 11-5, and in an all-Indian contest second seed Sanya Vats tamed Rewa Bharma 11-1 11-0 11-2.Results - Women’s – (finals): 1-Sachika Ingale beat 2-Urwashi Joshi 13-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-5.Third-Fourth place: Sachika Balwani beat Riya Sisidia 11-6, 11-3, 11-3.Men’s – (finals): 2-Aditya Jagtap (Mah) beat Abhishek Pradhan 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.Third-Fourth place: Gaurav Nandrajog beat Abhishek Agarwal 11-4, 11-4, 11-4.Prize Money Break up : Men -– Winner: Rs 1,30,000; Runner-up: Rs 75,000; 3rd place: Rs 40,000; 4th place: Rs 35,000.Women -– Winner Rs 40,000; Runner-up: Rs 25,000; 3rd place: Rs 10,000; 4th place: Rs 7,500.
Results - Boys U-15 (pre-quarter-finals): 1-Tanay Punjabi (India) bt Karim Farrag (Czech Republic) 9-11 11-6 11-4 11-7;Athrva Yadav (India) bt Mohit Bhatt (India) 11-9 12-14 11-5 11-5; Arnaav Sareen (India) bt Yash Salunkhe (India) 11-4 11-2 11-0; Jay Vaknalli (Australia) bt Shreyas Mehta (India) 8-11 11-7 6-11 11-9 11-2; Kanhav Nanavati (India) bt Druv Vazirani 11-6 11-4 8-11 11-6; Arman Darukhanawalla (India) bt Arnav Mandhana (India) 11-9 5-11 8-11 11-7 11-8; Aakash Gupta (India) bt Wei Quan Cheng (Malaysia) 8-11 11-2 11-9 11-9; 2-Navaneeth Prabhu S (India) bt Aaryaman Jaising (India) 11-6 11-6 11-8.
Girls' U-17 (2nd round): 1-Amita Gondi (USA) bt Iteeva Pande (India) 11-3 11-3 11-5; Tanaya M Parakh (India) bt Abhilasha Bhasin11-6 4-11 11-7 11-8; Amira Singh (India) bt Krithica J S 11-2 11-5 11-5; Navmi Sharma (India) bt Aariya Patel 12-10 11-5 11-3; Yoshna Singh (India) bt Tarika Vohra (India) 11-0 11-0 11-0; Anannya Morey (India) bt Bhavna Goyal (India) 11-4 11-4 11-6; 2-Sanya Vats (India) bt Rewa Bharma (India) 11-1 11-0 11-2.