At the prize distribution
function of the tournament from left to right : (Co-sponsors) Kalpesh
Mehta, Ashish Mehta and Amit Mehra, Manpreet Minhas (Sponsor, Director -
Harman Fino Chem Pvt. Ltd.), Manish Chotrani
& Vijay Sonawane (Runners
up), Harsh Toteja (Squash Secretary, JVPG), Jagdish Parekh (General
Secretary, JVPG), Sanjay Goyal (Secretary General, ISP),
Ashish Gupta
(President, ISP), Vikram Malhotra &
Niraj Shirgaokar (Winners),
Riaz
Mohammed (ISP) & Jogi Singh (Coach)
Finals: Niraj Shiragaokar and Vikram Malhotra bt
Manish Chotrani and Vijay Sonawane 12-15, 15-12, 15-7, 15-10
Semi Finals: 1-Niraj Shiragaonkar and Vikram Malhotra
bt 4-Sanjay Goyal and Rohan Gracious 7-15, 15-13, 15-8;
2-Manish Chotrani and Vijay Sonawane bt Dheeraj Nagpal and Mohd. Merchant
17-15, 10-15, 15-9.
Quarter Finals: 1-Niraj Shiragaonkar and Vikram Malhotra
bt Gopi Mohite and Vijay Waghela 15-13, 8-15, 17-15;
4-Sanjay Goyal and Rohan Gracious bt Rajesh Rajani and Shiv Malhotra 11-15,
15-11, 15-8;
Dhiraj Nagpal and Mohd. Merchant bt Amit Pal Kohli and Sachin Jadhav 15-10,
15-10;
2-Manish Chotrani and Vijay Sonawane bt Cyrus Vakil and Mohit Lalwani 8-15,
15-11, 15-8.
Niraj &
Vikram Enter Final (Article in Asian Age
: 15/4/ 2006)
Niraj Shirgaokar and Vikram
Malhotra made it to the final of the Rs 50,000/- prize money JVPG Harman
Baisakhi ISP Squash Classic, sponsored by Harman Finochem Ltd. and hosted
by the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana with a 7-15, 15-13, 15-8 victory over
Sanjay Goyal and Rohan Gracious in semi final match here on Sunday.
In another last four stage encounter, second seed
Manish Chotrani and Vijay Sonawane overcame the challenge of Dhiraj Nagpal
and Mohd Merchant by a 17-5, 10-15, 15-9 margin.
Earlier in the quarterfinal match, unseeded Dhiraj
Nagpal and Mohd Merchant upset third seed Amit
No
Stopping Them (Article
in DNA, Mumbai : 15/4/2006)
Vikram, Niraj two good,
storm into round four.
Vikram Malhotra and Niraj
Shirgaokar qualified for the fourth round in the Doubles Handicap Juhu
Vile Parle Gymkhana Harman Baisakhi ISP Squash Classic yesterday. They
defeated Amit Mehra and Anil Mohite 2-1 (8-15, 17-15, 15-11) in the second
round. The Duo awarded a handicap of 0-8, 0-6 and 0-7 to their opponents
in the first, second and third set respectively. They lost the first set
and claimed the second by a narrow margin. However, they came into their
own in third set to score a thumping victory.
The Malhotra and
Shirgaokar pair who won the Doubles-Open. Squash Championship at Khar
Gymkhana in March this year, later claimed their second victory of the day
by trouncing Siddharth Samantray and Sunil Gambers 2-1 (13-15, 15-13,
15-9) in the third round. Samantray and his Partner enjoyed a handicap of
7-0, 5-0 and 6-0 in the first, second and third set respectively.
Samantray and Gambers exploited the first set handicap to their advantage
by winning a couple of points initially and leading the way by a
considerable margin. The Khar Gymkhana Champions tried their level best to
come back in the game but it was too late for them. The game was evenly
poised in the second set when Gambers suffered a knee injury to get a much
brather. Though, Gambers decided to continue playing but he was struggling
for balls beyond his reach. It was all left to Samantray who didn’t give
it up easily. He fought a lone battle till the end but was not able to
finish it off in the second set. The third set was a mere cakewalk for
Malhotra and Co.
Rajani, Malhotra win (Article in Asian Age, Mumbai :14/4/2006)
Khar Gymkhana’s Rajesh Rajani and Shiv Malhotra showed good fighting
qualities to advance to the second round of the Rs.50,000 prize money JVPG
Harman Baisakhi ISP Squash Classic, Sponsored by Harman Finochem Ltd and
hosted by the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana. They scored 15-12, 12-15,15-12 win
over Aditya Kochhar and Arjun Kochhar in a first round on Thursday.
Malhotra – Shirgaokar
Champs (Article in Indian Express, Mumbai : 16/4/06)
The combination of youth
and experience, which translated into speed and guile helped the top
seeded duo of Vikram Malhotra and Niraj Shirgaokar recover from the loss
of a game to defeat second seeds Manish Chotrani and Vijay Sonawane in the
final of the JVPG Harman Baisakhi ISP Squash Classic, the highest prize
money handicap doubles event, the 69th event organised by the
ISP and Hosted by the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana.
It was the second doubles title for the left-right
combination of Shirgaokar and Malhotra, having won the open doubles title
at Khar Gymkhana recently, and fetched the winners a purse of Rs.20,000.
Beginning with a handicap of 1 point, Shirgaokar and Malhotra lost the
first game, thanks mainly to the super play from Chotrani and Sonawane
doing just enough to back him up. The handicap was reversed for the second
and Shirgaokar and Malhotra then began attacking Sonawane, hitting deep
and making him work hard for his shots. The ploy paid off and with the
champions leading 11-9, Sonawane was struck by cramps. With his movements
restricted, Shirgaokar and Malhotra kept up the pace of the game to win it
15-12 and level scores. In the next two games, though Chotrani took on a
lot of the extra burden in an attempt to shield has injured partner, the
effort was just not enough to thwart the joint assault from Shirgaokar and
Malhotra, who won the third game in a Jiffy at 15-7 and then went to win
the fourth 15-10 and with it the match.
