Having
started with a 7-2 lead, a couple of irresponsible shots cost the under-11
top seed the first set. However, despite severe dehydration, he came back
from the 0-1 deficit to finish the game.
Apart from being his first triumph outside India, the win was special for
more than one reason for the boy. He is the first Indian win the Malaysia
Junior Open, an event where he had suffered a heartbreaking loss in
the final last year. This time around, however, Chotrani left no stone
unturned.
The presence of his father and former national champion Manish Chotrani,
who was amongst the spectators, helped little Veer topple the top-ranked
Malaysian contender. "He was there for Veer's every match since the
quarterfinals and it really helped Veer get his focus in place," says
mother Meera Chotrani.
"He spends three hours every day practicing squash, yoga and other
fitness regimes," informs Meera.
And his commitment to the sport shows in the figures. In 2011 alone, the
Mumbai lad bagged 13 titles, including a gold in junior nationals, silver
in Malaysia and a bronze in Penang. With every junior title in the country
under his belt, the class 6 student of Jamnabai Narsee school will now
only participate in under-13 tournaments. "His coach has advised him
to play in only under-13 category tournaments in India. This will help him
better his game. For international events he will continue to play
under-11," informs Meera.
With little Veer showing a level of discipline, focus and hard work that
belies his age, expect bigger feats from this 10-year-old in the days to
come.
Boys
U-11: Finals: [1]
Veer Chotrani bt H. Mugunthan 9/11, 11/6, 11/1, 2/10
Two Indian
Squash Academy trainees, Ravi Dixit and Kush Kumar won the Milo All Star
Malaysian Junior Open which concluded in Kuala Lumpur.
Dixit won the boys' under-19 title for the second year running defeating
second seed Mohd. Zul Azri (Malaysia) 11-5, 11-7, 12-10. In the semifinal
he had beaten Mujahid Hussain of Pakistan 11-2, 13-11, 13-11.
Kumar emerged winner in the boys' under-15 title beating Vin Tan
(Malaysia) 11-7, (conceded). Vin Tan gave up after sustaining an injury.
In the semifinal Kumar had ousted another Malaysian, Chris Lo Cheuk 13-11,
12-10, 11-6.
Another Indian to create a ripple was Dev Vazirani of Mumbai, who upset
top-seeded Eugene Heng of Malaysia in the boys' under-11 semifinal.
He won 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 11-9, and 11-8. However in the summit round,
Hammas Ahmed Tarar of Pakistan defeated Dev 11-8, 11-5 11-1
Boys
U-19 : Finals : Ravi
Dixit beat Jo Wen Ng 11-8, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9
Semi final : Ravi Dixit beat
Karan Malik 11-7, 1-11, 11-8, 12-10
Quarterfinal : Ravi Dixit beat
Julius Krauss (Aus) 11-6, 5-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-9
Karan Malik finished in 4th position in the Boys under 19.
Ramit
Tandon secured 3rd position in the Boys under 17
Robin
Mann finished 3rd position in the Boys under 11.
The city’s two top U-11 boys squash players have
taken their rivalry to Malaysia now. Mahesh Mangaonkar and Abhish Pradhan
took the courts in the U-11 final of the Malaysian Junior Open at the
Astaka Squash Center in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Mangaonkar, the topseed
at the event, eventually prevailed 9-6, 9-7, 9-6 on a day that saw India’s
topseed women’s players Joshna chinappa claim the girls U-19 title
beating third-fourth seed Malaysia Delia Arnold. The chennai girl came
from being a game down to win 3-9,9-3,9-5,10-8 in46 minutes.
Top seed in the U-19
boys category, the National Junior Champion SouravGhosal
lost the U-19 final to Pakistan’s Khalid Atlas Khan 5-9,3-9,1-9.
Another Mumbai lad,
Vikram Malhotra also made it to the boys U-15 final, but was mauled by
Malaysia’s Kamran Khan 2-9,5-9,0-9.
Nessrine Ariffin beat
top seed V. Anvesha Reddy 9-7,5-9,9-4,9-0 in the semis on way to the girls’
under-13 title.
Results
Boys Under – 19:Khalid Atlas Khan {PAK}
beat Saurav Ghosal (Ind) 9-5, 9-3, 9-1
Boys Under-17: 7th/8th Place Playoff
Mohd. Asyraf {MAS} beat Harinderpal Singh {IND} 10-8, 7-9, 9-6, 9-7
Boys Under-15:Kamran Khan {MAS} beat Vikram Malhotra 9-2, 9-5, 9-0
7th/8th Place Playoff :Gunraj Singh {IND} beat Girish Sawlani {IND} 9-5,
9-1, 9-3
Boys Under-13:Aditya Jagtap {IND}beat Rahul D'Cunha {IND} 9-1, 9-1,
9-2
7/8th place:Aadit Zaveri {IND} beat Zulhafiz Izanie Ramzan {MAS}8-10, 9-6,
9-3, 9-0
Boys Under-11: (Finals)
Mahesh Mangaonkar {IND} beat Abhishek Pradhan 9-7, 9-4, 9-1
Girls Under-19 (Finals)
Joshna Chinappa {IND} beat Delia Arnold {MAS}3-9, 9-3, 9-5, 10-8
Girls Under-17: (5th/6th Place play off)
Tehuni Guruge {SRI} beat Shibani Philip {IND}6-9, 9-3, 9-4, 9-6
Girls Under-15: 3-4th Place
Dipika Pallikal {IND}beat Amanda Cranston {NZL}9-5, 10-9, 9-3
Girls Under-13: Finals:
Nessrine Ariffin {MAS}beat V Anvesha Reddy {IND}9-7, 5-9, 9-4, 9-0
Girls Under-11: Finals:
Airin Abd Rahman {MAS} beat Ankita Sharma 9-3, 9-1, 9-6
3rd/4th Place Playoff:
Dija Sarah Sexton {AUS} beat Sachika Balwani {IND} 9-0, 9-4, 9-6
5th/6th Place Playoff:
Saumya Karki {IND}beat Shria Khatri {IND}9-1, 9-4, 9-5
The finals of Under 11 event had the tough fight between Ramit Tandon (W.
Bengal) and Ahmad Khairul (Mal). In the 5 setter Ramit showed he is
the best when he beat Ahmad 9-4, 7-9, 7-9, 9-5, 9-4,
while Vikram
Malhotra (Mum) beat Jerry Foo in a easy fight in the Boy’s Under-13
title, beating Jerry Foo (Mal) 9-6, 9-5, 9-7.
There
are 393 entries, from all major countries in the region — Australia,
India, Sri Lanka, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The
Indian Consignment (52 players) which was the largest sent by any country also had many
more players who took several other positions as follows:
Boys Under-17: Vikas Jhangra(Mah) bt Vivan Rahmanan (Sin)- 9-6, 9-4, 9-1 Saurav Ghosal(W.B) bt Sueng Jun Lee (Kor)- 9-10, 9-2, 9-0, 9-0 Rishab Vora (Mum) lost to Wong Kim Lee(Mal)- 1-9, 2-9, 4-9
Boys Under-15: Harinder Sandhu (Chandigarh) lost to top seed Kapil Nesan (Mal) 0-9, 3-9, 6-9
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