Otters
‘B’ clinch squash title (Article in Free Press Journal, Mumbai
:
6/5/2000)
Otters
‘B’ clinched the inaugural Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana Open Team
handicap squash crown with an exciting 3-2 win over The Leela in the final
at the WCG’s glass-back court.
Priyanka
Yadav The Leela, who make a dramatic entry into the title round, a vital
lead after beating Supreet Singh 15-11, 15-10 in an absorbing opening tie.
But Otters Cyrus Appoo came up with an unbelievable win over fancied Rahil
Shah to win the next match at 15-13, 15-17, 15-13 in another exciting
encounter.
Otter’s
formidable Vishal Kapoor was expected to give his side the lead after
Appoo’s good showing, but, the HR College lad was shocked by Sahil Shah
11-15, 15-13, 13-15. The burden of brining Otters back into contention
fell on Karan Bhatty, who lived upto his reputation by registering a
15-13, 14-15, 15-13 win over Mahendra Agarwal in an exciting cash which
forced the decider.
Pawar wins
crucial tie (Article in Times of India,
Mumbai : 1/5/2000)
Chandrakant
Pawar put up a stellar show for the second day running to lead The Leela
into the final of the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana (WCG) open glass-backed
courts on favourites Otters ‘B’ in the title clash.
Playing
in the final tie against Otters ‘A’ team’s Carl Bokdawala, who had a
handicap of 11, Pawar rallied from 9-14 match-ball in the third game to
pull off a thrilling 13-15, 15-14, 15-14 win. On Friday, Pawar had
fashioned The Leela’s stunning quarter-final win over Juhu Centaur.
Pawar
leads Leela into semi-finals (Article in The Daily, Mumbai :
30/4/2000)
Chandrakant
Pawar ignored an opening game deficit to beat Juhu Centaur’s Riaz Mohd
13-15, 15-12, 15-12 in the crucial fifth tie to take the Leela into the
semi-finals with a 3-2 verdict in the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana Open
Team Handicap Squash Championship at the WCG”s glass-back courts here
today.
Pawar’s
win ensured The Leela’s entry into the last four after his team-mates
Sahil Shah and Mahendra Agarwal lost their ties in contrasting fashion
after the fancied Priyanka Yadav and Rahil Shah won the opening games to
give the Leela a comfortable 2-0 lead.
In
other matches, Otters Club ‘A’ and “B’ teams surged into the
semi-finals with contrasting victories over hosts Willindon Catholic
Gymkhana’s “B’ and ‘A’
Teams,
respectively.
Avinash
Bhavnani of Otters ‘A’ clinched the deciding tie against WCG’s
Rakshak Malhotra 15-13, 15-12 after the teams were level at 2-2. Among the
surprise losers in the encounter was WCG’s Rohan Gracious, who went down
to Amit Chinoy 11-15, 13-15.
WCG’s
Douglas Goudinho pulled off a sensational opening game 15-9, 15-11 win over
formidable Vishal Kapoor to give team a vital lead, but his effort went
a begging after his team mates Anurag Gill, Jonathan Joshi, Rajesh Sonawane
and Karan Batra lost their matches as WCG A crashed to Otters ‘B’ 1-4.
The
Club, Andheri registered a convincing 4-1 win to shock Jindal Vasind.
Among the surprise losers were Jindal’s Vikas Jangrawho went down to Amit Pal Kohli 12-15, 13-15in the opening tie and
Deepak Yadav who lost crucial fourth match to Saket Wali 15-10, 13-15,
13-15.
