Maharashtra teenager Rahul Baitha the joint 3rd-4th seed survived a scare for seasoned campaigner Sandeep Jangra of Services before pulling through 3-2 in five grueling games in a men’s quarter-final match of the 4th NSCI All India Open (Junior and Senior) Squash Tournament 2019, at the NSCI squash courts on Monday.
Maharashtra’s 18-year-old Rahul Baitha came from behind to defeat Sandeep Jangra of Services to advance to the men’s semi-final round of the 4th NSCI 4th NSCI All India Open (Junior and Senior) Squash Tournament 2019
The 18-year-old Baitha, who trains with former Indian player Ritwik Bhattacharya, initially found the going tough against the Indian Navy who with clever tactics and superb deception grabbed the first two games, the second after saving four game-ball to enjoy a 2-0 lead. But the lanky Baitha showed plenty of resilience and the gumption for a fight as he managed to cut down on the errors to control play and win the next three games to complete a hard-fought 5-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8 and 11-8 win in 56 minutes to book a berth in the semi-finals.
In the last four round, Rahul will clash with top seed Abhishek Pradhan of Maharashtra who defeated compatriot Abhinav Sinha 11-6, 13-11, 11-2 in another quarter-final encounter.
Earlier in an all-Maharashtra quarter-final contest second seed Abhishek Agarwal got the better of Aishwary Singh 11-8, 11-8, 13-11 and will meet Services Naveen Jangra who tamed his teammate Mehul Kumar 11-4, 11-8, 11-8 to set up a semi-final clash.
Baitha also progressed to boys’ under-19 semi-final. The second seed Baitha easily got past Suraj Chand winning in straight games at 11-6, 11-8, 11-6. Goa’s Yash Fadte also made into the semi-final defeating Sankalp Anand 11-9, 11-6, 12-10.
In women’s first round matches, Rajasthan’s Oma Choudhary scored a hard-fought win against West Bengal’s Sano Singhi winning in four games at 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 and on a side court Monika Singh of Uttar Pradesh defeated Shibi Batar of Delhi 12-10, 11-6, 11-0.
Results – Girls’ U-13 (first round): Tisha Jasani beat Niya Jain 11-1 11-0 11-1; Jiya Chotrani beat Karina Phipps 11-8 11-9 11-3; Nayna Taneja [beat Anjulieraje Kumar 11-2 11-6 11-6; Anahat Singh beat Mahika Rakshit 11-3 11-1 11-3; Ipsa Mishra beat Ananya Narayanan 11-13 11-5 11-13 11-8 11-3; Perina Sharma beat Antara Rakshit 9-11 11-6 11-5 11-3; Khushboo beat Lara Sheth 11-0 11-2 11-1.
Girls’ U-15 (second round): Aasya Patel (MP) beat Karina Baitha 11-2 11-2 11-3; Diya Yadav beat Archita Singh 11-7 11-5 11-6; Sonya Bajaj beat Kriyaa J. 11-1 11-5 11-7; Kaavya Bansal beat Suhana Chopra 11-4 11-4 11-8; Tagyaa Parakh (WB) beat Prini Jain 11-6 11-4 11-5; Deepika V. (TN) beat Maansha Bohra (RJ) 11-5 11-5 8-11 11-5; Tiana Parasrampuria beat Khushi Jaspal 11-3 11-3 11-0.
Girls’ U-17 (second round): 1-Ananya Dabke beat Ahana Bhaskaran (WB) 11-0 11-3 11-0; Anjali Semwal beat Sunita Patel 14-12 11-8 3-11 8-11 12-10; Tanishka Jain beat Aanchal Rathor 11-5 11-2 9-11 0-3 retired; Anannya Morey beat Sakshi Karnani 11-2 11-1 11-0; Trina Iris beat Anushka Rawat 11-9 11-9 8-11 11-7; Sarah Vethekar beat Prashasti Mattas 11-5 8-11 11-6 11-3; Aariya Patel beat Mahek 11-0 11-4 11-1; 2-Aishwarya Khubchandani beat Nitya Singh (DL) 11-4 11-0 11-3.
Women (first round): Oma Choudhary beat Sano Singhi 11-13 11-9 11-7 12-10; Monika Singh beat (DL) Shibi Batar 12-10 11-6 11-0; Aishwarya Khubchandani beat Aakanksha Yadav 11-2, 11-3, 11-1.
Boys’ U-17 (quarter-finals): Arman Darukhanawalla beat Anurag Thakur 10-12 11-13 11-6 13-11 11-8; Tanay Punjabi beat Athrva Yadav 11-9 11-6 13-11; Akhilesh Kumar beat Raunak Singh 10-12 11-3 11-6 11-8; Arnaav Sareen beat Kulvir Sharma 11-8, 11-8, 11-7.
Boys’ U-19 (quarter-finals): Saksham Choudhary beat Prithvi Singh 11-7 7-11 11-5 11-8; Tushar Shahani beat Jaideep Singh Sethi 11-3 11-8 11-6; Yash Fadte beat Sankalp Anand 11-9 11-6 12-10; Rahul Baitha beat Suraj Chand 11-6 11-8 11-6.
Men (quarter-finals): Abhishek Pradhan beat Abhinav Sinha 11-6 13-11 11-2; Naveen Jangra beat Mehul Kumar 11-4 11-8 11-8; Abhishek Agarwal beat Aishwary Singh 11-8 11-8 13-11; Rahul Baitha beat Sandeep Jangra 5-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8.