Quarter
finals:
Manish Chotrani bt A I Singh 11-7,11-7, 11-8;
Rohan Gracious bt Kunal Jani 11-9, 11-1,11-4;
Cyrus Vakil bt Sachin Jadhav 11-8, 8-11, 11-9,11-9.
All quarter
finals :
Men’s
Open : Manish Chotrani beat A.I.Singh 11-7, 11-9, 11-7
Vikram Malhotra bt Harjinder Singh 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5.
Cyrus Vakil beat Sachin Jadhav 11-8, 3-11, 11-8, 11-8
Rohan Gracias beat Kunal Jani 11-9, 11-1, 11-4
Boys u-19
: 4-Vikram Malhotra bt Naveen Jangra (Jindal) 11-9, 11-9, 11-8;
1-Sandeep Jangra (Jindal) bt Mohammad Merchant 11-3, 11-5, 11-5;
3-Laxman Joshi (Jindal) bt Joran Diwan 11-3, 11-8, 11-8;
2-Ritesh Sharma bt Cyrus Vakil 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 11-8.
A four-month layoff due
to an ankle injury did not seem to have had too much of a impact on Manish
Chotrani’s fitness, reflexes and squash skills, as he demolished the host
club’s Rohan Gracious in straight games to lift the men’s singles title in
the Rs.1 lakh Khar Gymkhana – Hero Honda Classic, the 60th
tournament organised by the Indian Squash Professionals, which concluded
at the squash courts of the Khar Gymkhana late on Sunday.
In the women’s handicap
proved the bane of the top seed Saheeda Madraswala, who lost in five games
to newcomer Kiran Mirpuri of Khar Gymkhana. Kiran, originally a badminton
player, prevailed 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7. The boys under-19 final
went according to form, with the top seed from Jindal, Sandeep Jangra,
proving too strong for fourth seed Vikram Malhotra. Jangra, who has
benefited quite a lot from his stints in the training camps for the junior
team, won 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 over an opponent who has just made the
transition from under-15 to the under-19 age group.
Chotrani, the top seed
and National champion, looked a bit rusty in the intial stage of his match
against Gracious and was helped to a great extent by at least six unforced
errors committed by his opponent. With the first game in the bag, Chotrani
went for winners and had Gracious groping for answers. Matching his
younger opponent for stamina and displaying remarkable reflexes, Chotrani
won the first two games easily at 11-5, 11-5, before Gracious put up a
match better showing in the third game to run the champion close. Some
close calls which went against Gracious saw him lose him composure at crucial
moments. Which caused him to finally lose the third game 11-13.
Malhotra cruises past Khaladkar (Article in Free Press Journal, Mumbai :
19/2/2005)
Fourth seed Vikram
Malhotra with a strong performance quickly packed off Kunal Khaladkar in
straight games in a boy’s under-19 pre-quarter-final match of the Indian
Squash Professionals (ISP) organised Khar Gymkhana –Hero Honda Squash
Classic, offering a prize money of Rs.1 lakh and played at the Khar
Gymkhana Squash Courts on Friday.
Vikram dominated from
the start and raced to fluent 11-3, 11-3 victory in just 20 minutes to
reach the last eight round. He will meet Joran Diwan, who defeated Dipesh
Borade 11-4, 11-3 in the quarter-finals.
Cyrus Vakil also booked
a berth in the quarter-finals. Cyrus also enjoyed an easy time as he tamed
Nilesh Mishra 11-1, 11-7 in another pre-quarter-final match.
Malhotra,
Vakil sail through (Article in Mid Day, Mumbai : 19/02/2005)
Talented youngster and
arch-rivals, Vikram Malhotra, seeded fourth, and Cyrus Vakil booked their
spots in the quarter-finals of the boys u-19 category of Khar
Gymkhana-Hero Honda Squash classic, Organised by Indian squash
professionals yesterday.
In the pre-quarter
finals, Malhotra brushed aside Kunal Khaladkar 11-3, 11-3 in just 20
minutes to reach the last eight stage, where he will meet Joran Diwan, who
defeated Dipesh Borade 11-4, 11-3.
Shaheeda in squash final (Article in Mid Day, Mumbai : 20/02/2005)
Top seed Shaheeda
Madraswala took one step close to the women’s singles title when set up a
last four clash with unseeded Namrata Purohit in the Rs.1 lakh prize money
Khar Gymkhana-Hero Honda Squash Classic, organized by Indian squash
professionals at the Khar Gymkhana Squash courts on Saturday.
While Shaheeda
outplayed Neha Nirmakani improving Namrata got the better of Avani Shetty
11-7, 11-7, 11-9.
Fourth seed Vikram
Malhotra continued his march in the boys under-19 category, entering the
semi-finals, where he will play top seed Sandeep Jangra of Jindal. In the
quarter-finals in Saturday, Malhotra beat Naveen Jangra 11-9, 11-9, 11-8,
while the top see Sandeep accounted for Mohammed Merchant 11-3, 11-5,
11-5.
Jangra powers to U-19 crown (Article in Mid-Day, Mumbai : 21/2/2005)
I Always felt in
control,” smiled Sandeep Jangra after seeing off a spirited challenge from
15-year old Vikram Malhotra in straight sets to win the Khar Gymkhana-Hero
Honda squash classic Boys U-19 trophy at Khar Gymkhana yesterday.
The top seed won the slightly over 30
minutes contest, 11-3 ,11-6, and 11-7 against an opponent who is certainly
on the rise.
The experienced Jangra didn’t take too much
time to show everybody just why he was the odds on favourite to lift the
title.
In the first game, it was all out power from
the 16-year-old and his excellent ability at covering the court didn’t
give the underdog much respite between shots.
Once could sense Malhotra starting to come
to terms with the pace of Jangra in the second, but the latter mixed his
stroke play majestically to gain a stranglehold on the contest.
In the Final game, the fourth seed provided
glimpses of his unquestionable talent and it was neck to neck at one stage
at 5-5. However, the class of Jangra once again surfaced as he took
advantage of some unforced errors by his junior opponent to take the game
and the match.
“I still have a long way to go, although I
am satisfied that I reached the final and gave him (Jangra) a good fight,”
said Malhotra later.
60th Tournament Organised by ISP
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