Velavan Senthilkumar and Urwashi Joshi won the Men’s and Women’s titles in the Otters Club Open Squash Tournament 2018 Co-Sponsored by Rustomjee & Deutsche Bank played at the Otters Club squash courts on Thursday.
Velavan Senthilkumar receiving his trophy after winning men’s Singles title of the Otters Club Open Squash Tournament .
Velavan who beat the second seed Abhishek Agarwal to reach the finals was optimistic about his chances of taking on the top seed Abhishek Pradhan who has been in prime from recently reaching his second final in 2 weeks. The Chennai lad beat Abhishek Pradhan by 11-4, 11-7, 1-11, 11-7 but the match was not as easy as the scoreline suggests. 20-year-old Velavan had to fight hard for every point and he was lucky on certain occasions which enabled him to take the first two games 11-4, 11-7. However, in the third game, Abhishek took the attack to Velavan who could not control the onslaught and succumbed to a meagre 1-11 defeat. Velavan Bounced back in the fourth game and took the game 11-7 to win the championship.
When asked about his win Velavan Said “This is my first finals and I faced Abhishek Pradhan for the first time. He has incredible speed and strength and I had a tough time keeping up with him. I thought matching his intensity and moving him around the court eventually gave me an edge over him”.
In the U-19 category, Jannia Singh beat Koel Shankar 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 in an anti-climactic final. Fatigue had caught up with koel who had mostly played 5 game matches on her way to the finals and she could not keep up with the Jannia who looked fit and raring to go despite a taxing semi-final. Jannia stuck to the basics and moved around the court making koel work hard for points ultimately winning the championship. After her empathic victory Jannia Said “ I was excited tensed to play against koel as we had an identical Journey but I was mentally prepared as this was a rare opportunity. Because Koel had the most 5 game matches she was not moving as fast on the front court which worked to my advantage”.
In the women’s finals, Unseeded Akanksha’s dream run in the tournament came to an end as the top seed Urwashi Joshi stepped up with an amazing performance to defeat Akanksha 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 to win the championship.
Results Men’s Final
Velavan Senthilkumar [3/4] bt Abhishek Pradhan [1] 11-4 11-7 1-11 11-7
Women’s Final
Urwashi Joshi [1] bt Akanksha Salunkhe 11-6 11-8 11-8
Girls U-19 Final
Jannia Singh bt Koel Shankar 11-4 11-8 11-4