Jangra on song (Article in Mid-Day, Mumbai : 7/9/2004)
When Sandeep Jangra
stepped in to the Khar Gymkhana squash courts yesterday, there were no signs
of nerves. And winning the pre-quarter final of the AirTel All-India
inter-school and college squash championship was just a formality.
Ample proof of the
confidence came through a 9-0, 9-2 demolition of Gauresh Sukharamani.
But things were a lot
different two weeks back. In his maiden World Junior (under-19) squash
championship in Islamsbad, the 16-year-old was all at the sea against
Sebastian Weenik of Netherlands in the first round of the singles event. “I
was very nervous and had no idea about the opponent. Such things had never
happened to me earlier,” said Jangra.
But 1-9, 10-8, 3-9, 3-9
loss has also been a great leaning experience.
“Before the much, I had
no idea that the standard would be so high. The players don’t give an inch
and don’t make many errors. They are also extremely fit,” the Vasind
resident said.
“But the tournament
showed me how much I needed to improve to much players from Pakistan and
Egypt. This was a great learning experience and an eye opener. My aim is to
reach the semi-finals when I play the world juniors next (in two years
time).”
But there was also a
silver lining for Jangra who along with cousin Vikas, Sourav Ghosal, A
Parthibhan and Harinder Singh, claimed the fifth spot in the team event.
“All of us started
playing well in the latter stages of the tournament and hence could make it
to the last eight,” Jangra said.
Mangaonkar storms into pre-quarters (Article in Mid-Day, Mumbai : 6/9/2004)
Current under-11 National
champion Mahesh Mangaonkar, won two matches on a productive day to reach the
pre-quarter-finals of the boys under-11 and under-13 age groups in the Khar
Gymkhana-Airtel All India Schools/College Individual Squash Championship,
2004, played at Khar Gymkhana squash courts, here on Sunday.
Also making the last 16
stage in two age groups of the country’s largest schools and college level
tournament were local lads Jay Dalal and Rahul D’Cuncha. Boys under-15 top
seed Vikram Malhotra blanked Alok Singh 9-1, 9-0, while Jay Dalal ended the
run of Delhi’s Kabir Kar with a 9-1, 9-0 win.
Paranjpe sisters to clash in U-19 squash
final (Article in Asian Age, Mumbai : 8/9/2004)
Shivangi, the younger of
the two Paranjpe sisters who is seeded third, displayed good temperament
against second seed Shahnaz Dastur, winning in five games to set up a girls
under-19 title clash with top seed and sister Madhura in the Khar Gymkhana-Airtel
All India Schools/College Individual Squash Championship at Khar Gymkhana
courts on Tuesday.
Shivangi won 3-9, 9-3, 9-0, 6-9, 9-4. Top seed Madhura beat fourth seed
Lydia John 9-1, 9-1, 9-1.
Also setting up an
interesting clash were top second seed Manek Mathur in the boys under-17
final.
Top 2 seeds in U-19 squash quarters (Article in Asian Age, Mumbai : 7/9/2004)
The top two seeds, Vikas
Jangra of Jindal College and Rushabh Vora of H.R. College, waltzed into the
quarter-finals of the boy’s under-19 event of the Khar Gymkhana-Airtel All
India School/College individual squash championship.
Top seed Vikas hardly
broke a sweat as he blanked Mohammed Saquib 9-0, 9-0, while second seed
Rushabh also had it easy against city lad Cyrus Vakil, winning 9-2, 9-0 in
pre-quarter-final matches at the Khar Gymkhana on Monday.
Also advancing to the
quarter-finals were third seed Manek Mathur of CCI Squash Academy, Dhiraj
Nagpal of H.R. College and Naishad Lalwani of Cathedral and John Connon
School. Manek found the going tough against Naresh Kumar of Dhampur before
he managed to record a 9-5, 9-6 in his pre-quarter-final match. Unseeded
Dhiraj overcame Delhi’s Prateek Chalia in straight games at 9-1, 9-2, while
Naishad was made to work hard by Sarvesh Chauhan of Jindal for a 9-7, 2-9,
9-2 win.
Huge field for Khar Gym Squash (Article in Free Press Journal, Mumbai :
2/9/2004)
Three hundred squash
players from schools and colleges round the country will converge at the
Khar Gymkhana for the Rs.4 lakh Khar Gymkhana-Airtel All India
School/College Individual Squash Championship 2004, which will be held from
September 4 to 8.
This was announced by
Khar Gymkhana vice-president Shiv Malhotra and tournament director Ashish
Gupta at a press briefing held at the Gymkhana premises on Tuesday, who
also said that the scope of the tournament, earlier a West Zone affair had
been increased to the all-India level.
Easily the largest
tournament for schools and colleges in the country and a hunting ground for
the young talent, the tournament will see the leading junior players vying
for attractive prizes like camcorders, TVs, music systems, DVD players,
mobile phones and much more.
Outstation entries have
come in from Delhi, Gujarat, Shimla, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, besides
Pune and Nasik.
Vikas Jangra and Madhura
Paranjpe have been given pride of place among the boys and girls under-19
age groups respectively, while the honour in the boys Under-17 category goes
to Sandeep Jangra. The other big names in the fray are Rushabh Vora and
Menek Mathur in the under-19 and under-17 age group and Vikram Malhotra in
the under-15.
The tournament is being
co-sponsored by I-Ball, while Pepsi is the drinks sponsor.
Vikas, Madhura given top billing (Article in The Hindu, Chennai : 1/9/2004)
Vikas Jangra (boys
under-19) and Madhura Paranjpe (girls under-19) will be looking forward to
justifying their top billing in their age group of the Khar Gymkhana-Airtel
All India School/College Individual Squash Championship 2004.
Organised by the Indian
Squash Professionals and co-sponsored by I-Ball, the September 4-8 event has
competitions in four categories for boys (U-19, 17, 15, 13, 11) and two for
girls (19, 13). Games will be played on the British scoring system of nine
points and best-of-three games in the initial rounds, best-of-five from the
quarter finals onwards.
Prizes for winners will
be in the form of camcorders, DVD players, Mobile phones, music systems, TVs
apart from trophies.
Subsidised accommodation
would be provided for outstation players, according to Shiv Malhotra of Khar
Gymkhana.
Sandeep Jangra (u-17),
Vikram Malhotra (u-15), Ravi Dixit (u-13), and Mahesh Mangaonkar (u-11) are
other boy’s top seeds.
The top seeding in the
girls under-13 section has been given jointly to Ankita Sharma and Sachika
Balwani.
The tournament,
co-sponsored by computer accessory company I-Ball, has attracted juniors
from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Bangalore, Shimla and
Maharashtra, according to the organizers. Our Special Correspondent.
Vikas, Rushabh cruise into quarter-finals (Article in Free Press Journal, Mumbai :
7/09/2004
The top seed Vikas Jangra
of Jindal college brooked no opposition from Mahommed Saquib as he romped to
a facile 9-0, 9-0 victory in a boy’s under-19 pre-quarter-final match of the
Khar Gymkhana-Airtel All India Schools/ College Individual squash
championship 2004, played at the Khar Gymkhana squash courts on Monday.
Second seed Rushabh Vora
of H.R.College also produced s strong performance as he tamed local lad
Cyrus Vakil in two easy games at 9-2, 9-0 in another pre-quarter-final
match.
Joining the top two seeds
in the quarter-finals was third seed Manek Mathur of CCI Squash Academy.
Manek overcome Naresh Kumar of Dhampur in straight games 9-5, 9-6.
The Paranjpe sisters-Madhura
and Shivangi, both of St. Anne’s High School, Fort, recorded impressive
victories enroute to the quarter-finals of the girl’s under-19 event.
Elder of the two sisters,
Madhura, the top seed blanked Urvashi Misra of Army Schoo, Pune 9-0, 9-0.
While Shivangi outplayed Saumya Karki of Hiranandani foundation 9-2, 9-1 in
pre-quarter-final encounters.
Jangra brothers emerge victorious (Article in Asian Age, Mumbai : 9/9/2004)
The training stint with
the India champ before the junior world championships seems to have done
Vikas Jangra and Sandeep Jangra of Jindal a world of good. The cousins
seeded first in the boys under-19 and under-17 categories respectively,
brooked no opposition before securing the singles titles in the Khar
Gymkhana-Airtel All India Schools / College individual squash championship.
While Vikas Jangra
brushed aside Rushabh Vora 9-2, 9-3, 9-2, Sandeep dropped a game to the
talented Manek Mathur before prevailing 9-6, 5-9, 9-6, 9-1. Boys under-15
top seed Vikram Malhotra survived a scare at the hands of second seed Laxman
Joshi of Jindal, stretched to the decider on only the third occasion in two
years he ahs spent in his age group. Trailing 1-2 in game score and playing
like a Zombie, Malhotra was shaken out of his slumber and then relied on his
superior stroke play to win 9-5, 4-9, 9-3, 9-2. Also asserting her supremacy
in the girls’ under-13 was joint top seed Ankita Sharma. Ankita, just six
months older to Sachika Balwani, but much more powerful in her strokes, won
9-7, 9-6, 9-2.
