Mumbai Inter-Club Squash League 2018 report
Waqar Pathan’s fine winning efforts were instrumental in helping hosts Hyatt Regency, Mumbai defeat Navi Mumbai Squash 3-2 in the opening Group-B round-robin league match of Hyatt Regency – Mumbai Inter-Club Squash League 2018, orgainsed by the Indian Squash Professionals and played at the Hyatt Regency courts.
Kailash Bhatt (Left) and Waqar Pathan (Right) pose after their match. Waqar beat Kailash 11-6, 11-3 in the opening Group-B round-robin league match of Hyatt Regency – Mumbai Inter-Club Squash League 2018.
Hyatt Regency started on a winning note when Pathan easily overcame Kailash Bhatt 11-6, 11-3 in the singles, first rubber. Later, the Hyatt pair of Ajit Singh and Vicky Kalludi went down fighting to Mr. Singh and Praveen Nair 11-8, 6-11 10-11 in the second rubber, which was the first doubles tie.
The Hyatt team regained the lead when Pathan teamed up with Ankita Sharma in the second doubles encounter and they both combined nicely to put it across the Navi Mumbai duo of Arun Sharma and Rahul Arora 11-7, 11-10 to win the third rubber. Later, Nilesh Pal won the fourth rubber when he managed to beat back a strong challenge from Vijay Darak, by pulling off a 11-7, 10-11, 11-9 victory to help his team take an unassailable 3-1 lead. Navi Mumbai managed to reduce the margin of defeat as their doubles combination of Sonu Merani and Vijay Darak scored a comfortable 11-3, 11-3 win against Imroze Pathan and Sanjay Goyal in the fifth rubber.
Earlier, Goregaon Sports Club also made a winning start as they recorded an identical 3-2 win against IIT Bombay in a Group-A league clash.
Meanwhile, eight clubs, divided into two groups of four teams each, are participating in the the Mumbai Squash League. Group-A consists of IIT Bombay, Goregaon Sports Club,Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana, Otters Club, while hosts Hyatt Regency, Mumbai, Khar Gymkhana, Navi Mumbai Squash and Jindal Squash Academy are drawn in Group-B.
Results : Group-A: Goregaon Sports Club beat IIT Bombay 3-2 (Pradeep Singh bt Rohit Kadam 11-6 11-8; Chetan Singh/Ramesh Singh lost Abhilash Chandy/Prakash Singh 10-11, 11-10,10-11; Deepak Tiwari/Navmi Sharma lost Kshiteej Prasad/Rohit Kadam 11-10, 3-11, 5-11; Deepak Tiwari bt Ramphal Suthar 11-3, 11-7; Amit Gajria/Paras Berawala bt Hrishikesh Kulkarni/Karan Singh 11-6, 5-11, 11-1).
Group-B: Hyatt Regency, Mumbai beat Navi Mumbai Squash 3-2 (Waqar Pathan bt Kailash Bhatt 11-6, 11-3; Ajit Singh/Vicky Kalludi lost Mr. Singh/Praveen Nair 11-8, 6-11, 10-11; Ankita Sharma/Waqar Pathan bt Arun Sharma/Rahul Arora 11-7, 11-10; Nilesh Pal bt Vijay Darak 11-7, 10-11, 11-9; Imroze Pathan/Sanjay Goyal lost Sonu Merani/Vijay Darak 3-11, 3-11).