On a day of major setbacks, girls’ under-19 top seed Vruddhi Doshi of Madhya Pradesh and the top two boys’ under-19 seeds Yohan Darius Pandole and Aishwary Singh, both from Maharashtra failed to get past the penultimate hurdle.
Jaivir Singh Dhillon
Starting the series of shock wins was Goa’s unseeded Akanksha Salunkhe who caused the biggest upset when she humbled Vruddhi in three quick games in a girls’ under-19 semi-final match of the Rs 6 lakh prize-money All-India NSCI Junior Open Squash 2015, an SRFI 4-Star Ranking event, and played at the NSCI’s glass-back courts, Worli, on Wednesday afternoon.
Akanksha Salunkhe
Later in the evening, Krish Kapur of West Bengal put up a brave dogged display as he rallied from the loss of the opening to dash the hopes of home favourite and top seed Yohan. Krish fought hard and chased every ball to blunt the challenge from opponent and march to a deserving 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 victory.
On the side court, Ranjit Singh of Uttar Pradesh engaged second seed Aishwary in a long tense battle before coming through in five games at 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10.
Meanwhile, the 16-year-old Akanksha, who is India’s number one under-17ranked player, demonstrated excellent control and hit some superb winners against the 18-year-old Vruddhi who struggled throughout and was often caught on the wrong foot. Akanksha who was in full flow, showed better consistency hitting 27 winners and made only 2 errors conceded juts 7 points in the entire match to complete an authoritative 11-2, 11-1, 11-4 victory.
In the final Akanksha will take on second the seed Aishwarya Bhattacharya who scored a convincing straight games win against compatriot and joint third seed Jui Kalgutkar 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6.
Meanwhile, in a girl’s under-17 semi-final clash, Mumbai-based Diya Joukani of New Zealand, the joint third seed showed plenty of perseverance and fighting spirit to sideline second Koel Shankar of Maharashtra 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6 to advance to the finals.
In the other semi-final, top-seeded Nikita Joshi of Maharashtra easily defeated state mate Aakanksha Rao in straight games at 11-6, 11-2, 11-1.
In another major upset, unseeded Jaivir Singh Dhillon of Delhi stunned top seed Paarth Ambani of Maharashtra in four games winning at 11-8, 1-11, 11-5, 11-9. Second seed Ansh Tripathi of Tamil Nadu also crashed out losing to Maharashtra’s joint third seed Vivaan Shah in five gruelling games at 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7.
In boys’ under-17 semi-finals, the top two seeds Robin Singh Mann and Yash Bhargava, both from Delhi had mixed fortunes. While Robin comfortably defeated Chaitanya Shah of Maharashtra 11-7, 11-9, 11- 5, his compatriot Yash went down fighting to Maharashtra’s Aryaman Adik in five long games losing 12-10, 3-11, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11.
Results – Girls’ Under-11 (semi-finals): 1-Yuvna Gupta (MH) bt S Akshaya Sri (TN ) 11-5, 11-6, 11-6; 2-Pooja Arthi R (TN ) bt Aasya Patel (MP) 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.
Boys’ Under-11 (semi-finals): Jaivir Singh Dhillon (DL) bt 1-Paarth Ambani (MH) 11-8, 1-11, 11-5, 11-9; 3/ 4-Vivaan Shah (MH) bt 2-Ansh Tripathi (TN) 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7.
Girls’ Under-13 (semi-finals): 1-Megha Bhatia (DL) bt 3/4-Aryaa Ogale (MH) 6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6; 2-Ananya Dabke (MH) bt Anannya Morey (MH) 11-9, 1-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9.
Boys’ Under-13 (semi-finals): 1-Neel Joshi (MH) bt Tanay Punjabi (MH) 11-5, 18-16, 12-10; 3/4-Kanhav Nanavati (TN) bt Yash Salunkhe (GA) 11-6, 11-8, 12-10.
Girls’ Under-15 (semi-finals): 1-Navmi Sharma (MH) bt Mira Kamat (MH) 11-1, 11-4, 11-8; 3/4-Jannia Singh (CH) bt Darshana Vasudevan (TN) 1-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8.
Boys’ Under-15 (semi-finals): 1-Veer Chotrani (MH) bt Advait Adik (MH) 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7; 2-Rahul Baitha (MH) bt 3/4-Utkarsh Baheti (RJ) 12-14 11-5 11-7 4-11 11-3.
Girls’ Under-17 (semi-finals): 1-Nikita Joshi (MH) bt 3/4-Aakanksha Rao (MH) 11-6, 11-2, 11-1; 3/4-Diya Joukani (MH) bt 2-Koel Shankar (MH) 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6.
Boys’ Under-17 (semi-finals):1-Robin Singh Mann (DL) bt 3/4-Chaitanya Shah (MH) 11-7, 11-9, 11- 5; 3/4-Aryaman Adik (MH) bt 2-Yash Bhargava (DL) 10-12, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7.
Girls’ Under-19 (semi-finals): Akanksha Salunkhe (GA) bt 1-Vruddhi Doshi (MP) 11-2, 11-1, 11-4; 2-Aishwarya Bhattacharya (MH) bt 3/4-Jui Kalgutkar (MH) 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6.
Boys’ Under-19 (semi-finals): Krish Kapur (WB) bt 1-Yohan Darius Pandole (MH) 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-5; Ranjit Singh (UP) bt 2- Aishwary Singh (MH) 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10.