Top seeds Rahul Baitha and Janet Vidhi expectedly won the men’s and women’s crowns respectively in the 77th CCI-Western India Slam squash championship organized by the Cricket Club of India (CCI) under the auspices of the SRFI (Squash Raquets Federation of India) and played at the CCI squash courts on Saturday.
Meanwhile, CCI’s talented players Varun Shah and Tiana Parasrampuria also emerged worthy champions clinching the boy’s under-15 and girls’ under-19 titles respectively.
Varun, who had defeated Rachit Shah in five engrossing games in the semi-finals, continued with his impressive showing and brushed aside the challenge from second seed Ishaan Dabke and recorded a stunning 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 victory to take the top honours. The young champ Varun for his splendid efforts was also presented with the Most Promising Player award.
Tiana showed remarkable confidence and managed to prevail over Nirupama Dubey winning three hard-fought games at 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 to emerge triumphant.
The number one seed Vidhi from Delhi with her fine all-round play called the shots against Bijali Darvada and raced to a quick 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 win to clinch the title.
Later, Baitha faced initial resistance from Ravi Dixit but gradually took complete control and eased to a 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 victory to finish on a high.
In the girls’ under-15 final, the top seed Sehar Nayar encountered a strong fight from Karina Phipps but managed to scrape through winning in four tense and well-contested games at 11-4, 10-12, 11-2 and 17-15. Karina, who played exceptional well throughout was present with the ANZ Grindlays Bank ‘Most Promising Junior Sqauah Player Trophy’.
Paarth Ambani caused a big upset defeating top seed Om Semwal 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 in the boys’ under-17 final.
Sunil Waghmare who defeated Shayan Samtani 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 15-13 to win the boys under-11 title was awarded the Saumil Shah Trophy for the most Promising Junior Squash Player.
Results (all finals) – Girls U-11: 1-Anika Kalanki bt 2-Manya Sanghavi 11-6, 11-2, 11-1.
Boys’ U-11: Sahil Waghamare bt Shayan Samtani 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 15-13.
Girls’ U-13: 1-Aarika Mishra bt 2-Aadya Budhia 12-10, 11-8, 13-11.
Boys’ U-13: 1-Saharsh Shahra bt Rudra Pathania 11-7, 11-9, 11-1.
Girls’ U-15: 1-Sehar Nayar bt Karina Phipps 11-4, 10-12, 11-2, 17-15.
Boys U-15: Varun Shah bt 2-Ishaan Dabke 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9.
Girls’ U-17: Anahat Singh bt Navya Sundararajan 11-1, 11-1, 11-2.
Boys’ U-17: 1-Yuvraj Wadhwani bt Tavneet Singh Mundra 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5.
Girls’ U-19: Tiana Parasrampuria bt Nirupama Dubey 11-7, 11-8, 11-9.
Boys U-19: Paarth Ambani bt 1-Om Semwal 11-5, 11-6, 11-5.
Women: Janet Vidhi bt Bijali Darvada 11-3, 11-6, 11-4.
Men: 1-Rahul Baitha bt Ravi Dixit 11-7, 11-8, 11-3.
Men’s 35+: 1-Sahil Vora bt Rushabh Vora 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9.
Men’s 45+: 1-Saurab Nayar bt Anil Bhagat 11-4, 11-3, 11-7.