Manish Chotrani
displayed tremendous wristiness while beating his Otter’s Club teammate
Cyrus Poncha 14-15, 15-9, 15-6, 15-0 to cause a flutter on the opening day
of the Rs.75,000 Transworld Shipping Twin squash tournament at the CCI
glassback courts today.
Poncha who is a good
retriever with plenty of stamina, had no clue to the direction of his
opponent’s shots and gave in without a fight in the forth game in which
he could not even score a point.
Chotrani, in the form,
could prove a threatto third
seed Rishad Pandole whom he meets tomorrow in the amateur event. Pandole
who has been playing U.S. where he is studing, found himself short of
stamina during his straight win over Juhu Gymkhana’s Jatin Mehta.
Lefthander Vinay
Asthana encountered stiff opposition from Chetan Panchal, who harried him
with several counter drops and kills from back court. Panchal may have
forced the match to the decider for he was leading 12-9 in the forth game
when down 1-2. But Asthana produced a stream of drives followed it up with
crosscourt drops and made the issue safe with a 15-12, 15-6, 12-15, 15-12
win.
Top seed Paul Ferriera
beat Niraj Shirgaokar straight and second seed Rishad Billimoria had no
problems against Mangesh Nadkarni.
In the professionals
events Andheri’s Vijay Sonawane and Willingdon’s Sudhir Ghote played a
thrilling five setter before the former’s crisper play got him a
victory.
It was a day to
remember for Vineet Asthana and Chandrakant Pawar at the packed CCI’s
glass back courts today. The two players were winners in the Amateurs and
professionals season respectively, in the first ever Transworld Shipping
TWI squash tournament for the Sivaswamy Trophy.
Asthana, India’s
third ranked junior, but in this tournament on successive days he took in
his stride India’s top two, juniors Paul Ferreira yesterday and Rishad
Billimoria today in an absorbing final.
Asthana made his
opponent dance to his tune with superb shots to the baseline, and in the
front court where he won several duels with the drop and counter drop.
Billimoria kept
fighting back but he did not have the space to do so as Asthana covered
every part of the court well and towards the later stages did not allow
his opponent to hustle him with obstruction’s tactics.
In the end Asthana’s
greater consistency helped him win 15-11, 7-15, 15-11, 15-11.
Pawar won in straight
games 15-11, 15-11, 15-12. The score does not indicate the keen tussle for
supremacy with Anant More of the CCI wrong footing Pawar with superb shots
off the sidewall.
But Pawar’s court
coverage was much superior and this always gave him the edge. Pawar of The
Leela thus had a hat-tric of titles having won the National, then the
Monarch and Mudra and this one.
THE Transworld Shipping
Twin Squash Championship for the Sivaswamy Trophy for professionals and
amateurs will be held at the CCI squash courts from May 27 to 30
Sponsored by the
Transworld Group of Companies, the tournament which will be played on a
knockout basis has attracted 20 professionals and 16 amateurs.
Five time national
Champ Meherwan Daruwalla who is making a comeback to the sport after a
year lost due to injuries is the top seed for the amateur event, with
National Under-19 champ Paul Ferreira billed No.2. The top two seeds in
the professional event are C.S Pawar and Gopi Mohite respectively.
The Transworld Group of
Companies are sponsoring a sports event for the first time and hope to
make the tournament an annual fixture. They also have plans to include an
event for women from next year.
“We realized that the
thrust the game deserved, the encouragement it merited was lacking,”
said Mr. P.R. Sreenivas, manager of Transworld Shipping Services. “We
can do better in the sport, we can produce a lot more international
players. We certainly have the potential…it just has to be
kindled….therefore we decided to sponsor tournaments for both
professionals and amateurs in squash ,” Mr. Sreenivas added. The tournaments
which offer total prize money of Rs.75,000 provides Rs.9,000 for both
winners and also has prize money allotted for every first round loser.
Vineet Asthana caused a
major upset in the Transworld Shipping's Rs.75,000 Twin Squash Tournament
when he beat top seed Paul Ferreira 15-2, 15-12, 15-8 to enter the final.
Asthana meets second
seed Rishad Billimoria who mixed up his game well to beat Rishad Pandole
15-11, 15-14, 15-11. It was a remarkable display of control and courtcraft
from the third ranked Indian junior against the reiging junior champion of
the country . Asthana played some superb shots all over the court,
dictated terms for most part.
VINAY Asthana
encountered stiff opposition from Chetan Panchal before he won his first
round match in the amateurs event of the Rs.75,000 Transworld Shipping
Twin Squash Tounament at the CCI’s glass-back courts here on Thursday.
Asthana had to play a
rally for practically every point as Panchal picked up every return and
countered with deceptive shots. Panchal won the third game after losing
the first two . Just when it seemed Panchal would claim the second when he
led 12-9, the left-handed Asthana pulled up his socks and played three
scorching shots.
Asthana was home 15-12,
15-6, 12-15, 15-12.
Top seed Paul Ferreira
beat his Otter’s Club teammate Niraj Shirgaokar in straight games 15-11,
15-5, 15-2 while Rishad Pandole had problem of stamina switching back to
the soft ball game after coming from U.S. where he plays the hard ball
game, when playing Jatin Mehta of Juhu Gymkhana 15-5, 15-1, 15-9.
In the professionals
event Vijay Sonawane and Sudhir Ghote played a keen match full of
placements and volleys. Sonawane of Andheri Recreation Club prevailed
15-9, 17-16, 16-17, 12-15, 15-14.
It
was a day to remember for Vineet Asthana and Chandrakant Pawar at the
packed CCI’s glass back courts today. The two players were winners in
the Amateurs and professionals season respectively, in the first ever
Transworld Shipping TWI squash tournament for the Sivaswamy Trophy.
Asthana, India’s
third ranked junior, but in this tournament on successive days he took in
his stride India’s top two, juniors Paul Ferreira yesterday and Rishad
Billimoria today in an absorbing final.
Asthana made his
opponent dance to his tune with superb shots to the baseline, and in the
front court where he won several duels with the drop and counter drop.
Billimoria kept
fighting back but he did not have the space to do so as Asthana covered
every part of the court well and towards the later stages did not allow
his opponent to hustle him with obstruction’s tactics.
In the end Asthana’s
greater consistency helped him win 15-11, 7-15, 15-11, 15-11.
Pawar won in straight
games 15-11, 15-11, 15-12. The score does not indicate the keen tussle for
supremacy with Anant More of the CCI wrong footing Pawar with superb shots
off the sidewall.
But Pawar’s court
coverage was much superior and this always gave him the edge. Pawar of The
Leela thus had a hat-tric of titles having won the National, then the
Monarch and Mudra and this one.
Vineet
Asthana stuns Ferreira Indian Express : 30/5/1993
Vineet Asthana caused a
major upset in the Transworld Shippings Rs.75,000 Twin Squash Tournament
when he beat top seed Paul Ferreira 15-2, 15-12, 15-8 to enter the final.
Asthana meets second
seed Rishad Billimoria who mixed up his game well to beat Rishad Pandole
15-11, 15-14, 15-11. It was a remarkable display of control and courtcraft
from the third ranked Indian junior against the reigning junior champion
of the country . Asthana played some superb shots all over the court, dictated
terms for most part.
THE Asthana twins Vinay
and Vineet played an interesting quarter-final in the amateurs event of
the Rs.75,000 Transworld Shipping Twin Squash Tournament at the CCI this
evening .
In the first and third
games Vinay was leading initially. But he could not maintain the
consistency his brother is noted for and was beaten 17-15, 15-6, 15-12.
Vineet meets top seed
Paul Ferreira in the semi-final. Ferriera met a player of his own type,
Yogesh Panchal, who loves to play a game of fast rallies.
It was touch and go and
Paul’s better consistency and fewer mistakes in the forth game enable
him prevail at 15-10, 13-15, 15-12, 15-6.
The professionals
matches ran to form with top-seed Chandrakant Pawar and RameshMore moving into the semi-finals.
Vineet Asthana caused a
major upset in the Transworld Shipping’s Rs.75,000 Twin Squash
trournament when he beat the top seed, Paul Ferriera 15-2, 15-12, 15-8 to
enter the final.
Asthana meets second
seed Rishad Billimoria who mixed up his game well to beatRishad Pandole 15-11, 15-14, 15-11. It was a remarkable display of
control and court craft from the third ranked Indian junior against the
reiging junior champion of the country.
Asthana played some
superb shots all over the court, dictated terms for the most part and
upset his opponent with a variety of drops and counter drops.
Ferriera’s only
moment of some dominance was when he led 5-4 in thesecond games but otherwise he had to play second fiddled to the
country’s under 16 champion whose improvement over the last few days has
to be seen to be believed.
There was upset in the
professionals event too. Gopi Mohite second seeded from Bombay Gymkhana
was beaten in five close fames by Anant More of Cricket Club of India.
Playing on his home
court, more was encourage by his club mates and thus fought back after
being two games down. Some fine trick shots helped More gain ground over
his fitter rival and turn virtual defeat into victory.
More meets the top seed
Chandrakant Pawar six times Indian Professional Champion who put it across
Ramesh More in Straight games.
It was a happy Birthday
for the Asthana twins, Vinay and Vineet today but with an inevitable touch
of disappointment do one of them. The reasons: both met each other in the
quarter-finals of the Rs.75,000 Transworld Shipping Twins Squash
Tournament and one of them had to lose. It was Vinay’s lot to fall by
the wayside.
Vinay is the elder of
the twins by thirty seconds but is down by a rung in the ratings. Vineet
is third ranked India Junior and Vinay fourth. But this season Vinay had
beaten Vineet in the State Open under-16 final. Today, he raised visions
of repeating the triumph when he led 12-8 in the opening game. But
consistency was not Vinay’s forte. He committed far to many mistakes
playing a little too soft and playing more crosscourts than necessary.
Vineet kept the ball in play volleyed unerringly and won in a straight
games 17-15, 15-6, 15-12 to enter the semi-final where he meets top seed
Paul Ferriera. Ferriera was up against it when 15-12 to enter the
semi-final where he meets top seed Paul Ferriera. Ferriera was up against
it when Yogesh Panchal kept a up a stream of drives and kept his opponent
moving. But Ferriera played exceptionally well in the forth game which was
crucial to the match and won 15-10, 13-15, 15-12, 15-6.
In the professionals
event, Ramesh More, the Bombay Gymkhana player made the fullest use of his
experience while quelling the challenge of Prakash Yelve, of Willingdon,
who played an all court game.
VINNET Asthana capped
some fine performances over the past few days by beating Rishad Billimoria
and claiming the amateur’s title of the Rs.75,000 Transworld Shipping
Twins Squash Tournament before a packed hall at the CCI’s glass-back
courts this evening.
Vineet won the top
prize of Rs.9,000 with a 15-11, 7-15, 15-11, 15-11 triumph.
The professional’s
title and an equal amount of Rs.9,000 was claimed by The Leela’s
Chandrakant Pawar who kept his concentration in the face of some tricky
play from the CCI’s Anant More with a 15-11, 15-11, 15-12 score line.
Vineet Asthana gas been
playing in the shadow of Paul Ferriera and Rishad Billimoria in the
junior’s ranks. But, after returning from the Asian junior
championships, Asthana has been working hard at his game. And the results
were there fore all to see.
It was a triumph of
tactics as Asthana dictate the pace. This he achieved with a superb
display of drops. Volleys into the nick and consistent shots to length
from where Billimoria found it hard to control the match.
After sending
Billimoria sprawling with a superb crosscourt drive to win the opening
game Asthana shricked a battle cry and the message was loud and clear for
his rival, who lost the second game even though he did control a portion
of it.
The forth was touch and
go with Asthana showing his fighting.
THE SQUASH calendar in
the metropolis suddenly seems crowded with events. Certainly a major turn
around for, in the past, only three tournaments were held in a year. So
much that the last two months itself have seen three absorbing tournaments
being played, thanks to individual sponsors pimping cash to organize these
meets. This, surly is a welcome boost to a city which has the most squash
players in the country.
Other than the three
regular tournaments – the Maharashtra State Open, the western India and
the Motilala Sanghi Inter-Club – three new tournaments were conducted in
the past two months, to give a much needed boost to the young amateurs and
neglected prose in the city.
Monarch & Mudra
conducted two tournaments, one entirely for professionals and one for
suburban clubs and hotels. Their cue was picked by Transworld Shipping,
who sponsored a twin tournament, for amateurs and pros, carrying equal
prize money in both categories.
For their first
dalliance with the sports, it was heartening that the sponsors put up a
total prize money of Rs.75,000, with the winners in each category taking
away a cool Rs.9,000. The tournament was a success, judging from the
packed crowds at the CCI glass-backed courts. This also witnessed the
blossoming of India’s No.3 junior Vineet Asthana.
Vineet Asthana scored
over his more illustrious contemporaries, Paul Ferriera and Rishad
Billimoria on consecutive days to walk away with the winners purse.
In the professional
section, six time national champion, 39 yrs old Chandrakant Pawar belied
his age and made good use of his vast experience to beat Anant More in the
final for the top prize of Rs.9,000.
For once, the
professionals are being appreciated for their behind the scenes services.
At most events, their matches are pushed to the outside courts and played
at odd times when no one is watching and the prize money offered to them
is negligible.
As Harry Singh,
President of the Squash Rackets Association of Maharashtra say’s “It
is these professionals who must be given all the support, for it is they
who will churn out good promising talent in the clubs, which are the
nurseries of squash.”
Paul Ferriera and
Rishad Billimoria began as favourites in the amateur section. Both are due
to go to Seattle soon for coaching under the scheme of the Non Residents
Squash Player's Association. But both were upstaged by Vineet, who walked
away with the Sivaswamy trophy.
It is obvious Vineet
has put in a lot of practice in the recent weeks. His self-confidence
proved it. He just refused to be the undergo, and not get flustered by the
higher-ranked opponents. His fitness and agility on the court, too, made
fewer mistakes and hardly played a lose shot all through.
The same was not the
case with Paul. In his match against Vineet, he just could not raise the
level of his game. Losing 2-15, 5-15,and 12-15 hardly speaks of a
fightback.
The tournament also saw
the return of Rishad Pandole , India’s leading junior in 1990. But he
was lacking in fitness. That was the only reason he lost to Billimoria in
the semi-final and was extended to five games in the quarter-final by
Mahesh Chotrani.
Transworld Shipping has
shown the way for other sponsors to get into the act by giving the game
the boost it needs. It is at this stage that the juniors need all the
exposure they get and the prize money helps too, not forgetting the
professionals.
TOP SEED Paul Ferreira
took a while to get his bearings, but once he had his game going he
displayed tremendous form to shut out Niraj Shirgaokar 15-11, 15-5, 15-2
in a first round match of the Transworld Shipping Squash Tournament for
amateurs and professionals at the CCI glass-backed court on Thursday.
In similar form was
third seed Vineet Asthana, who blanked out Jamshed Pandole 15-9, 15-7,
15-4 in another first round match.
The fireworks erupted
in the professional section of this tournament, which carries a total
prize money of Rs. 75,000 divided equally between the amateurs and pros.In their matches played in the morning, the contests were more
close.
In a first round match
which went the grueling distance, Vijay Sonawane managed to scrape past
Sudhir Gohte 15-9, 17-16, 16-17, 12-15, 15-14.
BOMBAY, May 26: The
winners of the professionals and the amateurs events of the Transworld
Shipping Twin squash championships, which start at the Cricket Club of
India tomorrow, will get Rs.9,000 each.But the first round losers among amateurs will get more than the
first round losers among professionals.The former will pocket Rs. 1,000, while the latter will get only
Rs.600.
Paul Ferreira is the
top seed and Rishad Billimoria the second in the event for amateurs, while
Chandrakant Pawar is the favorite and Anant More the next fancied among
the professionals.
BOMBAY, May 27 OF THE
seeded players, southpaw Vinay Ashtana had the most difficulty making the
second round of the Rs.75,000 Transworld Shipping Twin Squash Tournament
at the CCI’S glass back courts today.
Asthana found a
determined opponent in Chetan Panchal, who inspite of his bulk played some
fine shots.Asthana seemed to
losing his concentration but got his act together in time to prevail in
four games.
BOMBAY: THE Asthana
twins Vinay and Vineet played an interesting quarter-final in the amateur
event of the Rs. 75,000 Transworld Shipping Twin Squash tournament at the
CCI’s glass-back courts on Friday.
The twins were meeting
on their 16th birthday and Vinay was determined to repeat his
win over his brother earlier in the season in the State Open.But consistency was missing in Vinay’s play and Vineet prevailed
because of his cool temperament.
In the first and third
games Vinay was leading initially, but he could not maintain the
consistency his brother is noted for and was beated 17-15, 15-6, 15-12.
Vineet meets top seed
Paul Ferriera in the semi-final.Ferriera
had to bring out his best form to beat back the challenge of Yogesh
Panchal, a player of his own type, who loves to play a game of fast
rallies.It was touch and go
and Paul’s better consistency and fewer mistakes in the fourth game
enabled him to prevail at 15-10, 13-15, 15-12, 15-6.
However, Panchal did
played some sizzling shots and was at times as mobile as his opponent but
in the end youth told and Ferrieras who played his heart out in the fourth
game, won the day.
In the other
quarter-final matches Rishad Pandole overcame Manish Chotrani 15-11, 9-15,
12-15, 15-8, 15-11 and will meet Rishad Billimoria who brushed aside the
challenge of Darius Surti 15-10, 15-6, 15-10.
VINEET ASTHANA
celebrated his birthday by beating twin brother Vinay in the Transworld
Shipping Twin Squash tournament, realized there is some credence to the
sweet 16 cliché by winning the Rs. 9,000 top prize and toppling the first
three seeds on the way
The new champion
answers ten questions:
Your
next aim on the local squash circuit is : To do well in the
Nationals in December especially in the under-19 category.
How
did you handle pre-final nerves? Once I beat Paul Ferreira, I was
no longer nervous!
Your
game is good…. In the fitness department…
But
there’s brushing up needed in …My temperament!
Your
fitness regimen mainly consists of … Lots of running; both on
court and outside.
Your
toughest opponent in the juniors Section? Rishad Pandole
Your
luckiest Venue? Any court in India.
If
you could not play Squash….Then I would not play sport at all!
In
a Jahangir/Jansher match, who would you put your money on? Jansher
Talking
about money, how will you spend your prize-money from this tournament?
I’ll give it to my das
3rd
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