Yuvna Gupta of Maharashtra played with solid determination as she fought hard against Tamil Nadu’s S. Akshaya Sri and managed to record a 11-7, 12-10, 6-11, 6-11, 11-2 win in an exciting and keenly contested girls’ under-17 quarter-final match of the 76th CCI Western Indian Squash Open 2019, played at the CCI courts on Monday.
The joint third-fourth seed Yuvna faced a stiff challenge from Akshaya and closely won the first two games, the second over extra points to take a 2-0 lead. But, the Tamil Nadu girls showed plenty of resilience as she went on to win the next two games to force the decider. In the fifth game, Yuvna played a bit aggressively and quickly won the game to close out the contest seal a place in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the top two seeds, Tanishka Jain of Maharashtra and Abhisheka Shannon of Tamil Nadu comfortably came through their quarter-final encounters to take their place in the semis.
Tanishka Jain sidelined compatriot Sonya Bajaj winning in three games at 11-5, 11-9, 11-6, while Abhisheka was also in complete control against Prini Jain of Maharashtra and raced to 11-8, 11-3, 11-8 victory.
In the girls’ under-19 competition, the top seed Yoshna Singh of Maharashtra and second seed Rathika Suthanthira Seean of Tamil Nadu easily progressed to the semi-finals.
The Maharashtra girl Yoshna outshone her statemate Gangu Nirguda winning in straight games at 11-1, 11-3, 11-4; while Rathika also enjoyed an easy outing against Karnataka’s Saumya Raj charging to a 11-1, 11-6, 11-2 win.
Results –
Girls Under-17 (quarter-finals):
3/4-Yuvna Gupta (MH) bt S. Akshaya Sri (TN) 11-7, 12-10, 6-11, 6-11, 11-2;
Saniya Jaggi (MH) bt 3/4-Uditi Mishra (RJ) 12-10, 5-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-6;
2-Abhisheka Shannon (TN) bt Prini Jain (MH) 11-8, 11-3, 11-8;
1-Tanishka Jain (MH) bt Sonya Bajaj (MH) 11-5, 11-9, 11-6.
Girls’ Under-19 (quarter-finals): 1-Yoshna Singh (MH) bt Gangu Nirguda (MH) 11-1, 11-3, 11-4;
3/4-Anannya Morey (MH) bt Avani Nagar (MH) 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-3;
2-Rathika Suthanthira Seean (TN) bt Saumya Raj (KA) 11-1, 11-6, 11-2;
3/4-Aishwarya Khubchandani (MH) bt Rewa Bharma (MH) 11-4 (retired).
Boys’ Under-19 (quarter-finals): 1-Yash Fadte (GA) bt Avinash Sahani (MH) 11-3, 11-4, 11-7;
3/4-Navaneeth Prabhu S. (TN) bt R. Kishore Arvind (TN) 11-7, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8;
3/4-Neel Joshi (MH) bt Deepak Mandal (MH) 11-7, 13-11, 12-14, 11-9;
2-Advait Adik (MH) bt Kanhav Nanavati (TN) 8-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-4.