Mumbai’s Abhishek Pradhan, seeded in the 5-8 bracket, came up with a strong, impressive performance to register a sensationally upset win against top seen Robert Downer of England in a men’s quarter-final match of 42nd Maharashtra State Open Squash tournament, being organised by Bombay Gymkhana under aegis of SRFI and Maharashtra Squash Rackets Association. The tournament is being powered by JSW, while the associate sponsors for the event include Indospace, K Raheja Group, Shoppers Stop, Ellora Project Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Myntra, Cipla Imunno Booster and Nykaa.
Abhishek Pradhan ( front) in action against Robert Downer of England in a men’s quarter-final match of 42nd Maharashtra State Open Squash tournament
The 24-year-old Pradhan exhibited solid fighting qualities as he matched the the power play of Downer (world rank 207) and engaged the 25-year-old Englishman in long rallies in the five games affair. Pradhan, who lost to ultimate champion Sourav Ghosal in the quarter-finals of the National Championship, showed good composure and will power to pull through and complete a deserving 11-5, 11-13, 11-1, 10-12, 11-4 victory to advance to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, second seed Aditya Jagtap of Maharashtra took his appointed place in the semi-finals. The 25-year-old Jagtap eased past his young Goan opponent Yash Fadte in straight games at 11-7, 11-5, 11-2.
Services seasoned player Sandeep Jangra, the joint 3-4th seed, also crashed out going down rather tamely to Maharashtra’s Abhishek Agarwal in four games. Agarwal fought back well after dropping the first game to snatch a 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 win and advance to the last four round.
Delhi’s Gaurav Nandrajog, the joint 3-4th seed completed the semi-final line-up. Nandrajog after encounter initial resistance from Telengana’s Ashray Ohri, found his form and raced to a 12-10, 11-1, 11-6 success.
The top two seeds in the women’s competition, Sachika Ingale of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra’s Urvashi Joshi marched into the semi-finals without too much of fuss. Top seed Ingale powered her way past Amruta Swami of Maharashtra, recording a convincing 11-0, 11-1, 11-2 win, while Joshi also had thing under control and defeated her compatriot Pranjali Sharma 11-6, 11-8, 11-4.
Results –
Women’s – (quarter-finals): 1-Sachika Ingale beat Amruta Swami 11-0, 11-1, 11-2; 3/ 4-Sachika Balvani beat Sarah Vethekar 11-3, 11-4, 11-8; 2-Urwashi Joshi beat Pranjali Sharma 11-6, 11-8, 11-4; Riya Sisodia beat Neha Dhuru 11-0, 11-0, 11-1.
Men’s – (quarter-finals): 2-Aditya Jagtap (Mah) beat Yash Fadte (Goa) 11-7, 11-5, 11-2; 3/ 4-Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) beat Ashray Ohri 12-10, 11-1, 11-6; Abhishek Agarwal beat 3/ 4-Sandeep Jangra 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8; Abhishek Pradhan beat Robert Downer 11-5, 11-13, 11-1, 10-12, 11-4.
Men’s Over 55 (quarter-finals): 1-Vaman Apte beat Prakash Yelve 11-7, 11-3, 11-7; 3/ 4-Lalit Kumar Agnihotri beat Manan Mashruwala 11-4, 11-6, 12-10; 3/ 4-Vijay Jaini w/o Shashi Gupta; 2-Ashun Bahl beat Vijay Paranjpe 8-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7.
Men’s Over 45 (quarter-finals): Avinash Bhavnani beat Joyson Bothello 11-5, 11-5, 11-6; 3/ 4-Raja Parthasarathy beat Vishal Jhunjhunwala 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6; 3/ 4-Aashish Kamat beat Rahul Bafna 11-7, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8; 2-Ashutosh Pednekar beat Darius Surti 9-11, 11-1, 11-8, 11-6.
Men’s Over 35 (quarter-finals): 2-Amitpal Kohli w/o Robert Oates; 3/ 4-Jatin Bery w/o Sandeep Parab; 3/ 4-Karan Mirchandani beat Nikhil Bhandare 11-5, 11-3, 12-10; 1-Aditya Maheshwari beat Harjinder Singh 11-5, 4-11, 11-9, 11-2.–