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Favourite Anaka Alankamony of Tamil Nadu set herself up for a double crown when she eased into the women’s and girls’ under-19 championship round, in the Junior & Sub Junior National Championship & 69th CCI-Western India Open Squash Tournament, at the Cricket Club of India, on Saturday.
Anaka began the day with a fluent 3-1 win over Sachika Ingale of Delhi in the junior nationals under-19 semi-finals and later cruised past Enora Villiard of France in the CCI-Western India women’s semi-finals. Her opponent in both finals will be second seed compatriot Aparajitha Balamurukan who survived a scare in the women’s semi-finals against Lakshya Ragavendran after trailing 0-2 and snatching the nail-biting decider 13-11.
Mahesh Mangaonkar of Maharashtra also set himself up for a double after entering the men’s and boys’ under-19 finals. In the men’s final he faces top seed David Letourneau of Canada.
Mahesh Mangaonkar
Boys’ under-15 top seed Ranjit Singh of Uttar Pradesh, who escaped to victory in the semi-finals, met his match when Adithya Raghavan of Tamil Nadu, seeded third/fourth fashioned an upset 3-2 win, after trailing 1-2 in an exciting last four contest.
That close encounter set the trend for more action-packed ties, as Madhav Dhingra of Maharashtra, seeded third/fourth, stunned second seed Vijay Kumar of Tamil Nadu 3-1 in a tight contest to enter the boys’ under-17 final where he takes on top seed Kush Kumar of Tamil Nadu.
In another upset, S. Navaneeth Prabhu of Tamil Nadu overcame second seed Advait Adik of Maharashtra in straight sets to set up a boys’ under-11 title clash with favourite Yash Fadte of Goa.
Boys’ under-13 top seed Chaitanya Shah of Bombay Gymkhana survived a scare when he scraped past third/fourth seed Aryan Parikh of Matunga Gymkhana 3-1 in a gruelling encounter after dropping the third set, and the fourth stretching into extra points.
Among the girls, third/fourth seed Diya Joukani of Maharashtra upset second seed compatriot Aakansha Rao 3-1 to set up an under-13 title clash with top seed Nikita Joshi.
Under-15 top seed Adya Advani of Delhi also survived a scare when she escaped to a 3-2 win over third/fourth seed Ashita Bhengra of Tamil Nadu, after leading 2-0. In the final, Advani will take on second seed Jui Kalgutkar of Maharashtra who halted Akanksha Salunkhe of Goa.
Results: CCI-Western India Open: Men’s Open (Semi-finals): 1-David Letourneau (Canada) bt 5/8-Kush Kumar (TN) 11-2, 11-1, 11-9; 2-Mahesh Mangaonkar (Mah) bt 3/4-Ravi Dixit (TN) 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8.
Women (SF): 1-Anaka Alankamony (TN) bt 3/4-Enora Villiard (France) 11-0, 11-6, 11-8; 2-Aparajitha Balamurukan (TN) bt 3/4-Lakshya Ragavendran (TN) 7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 13-11.
Professionals (SF): 1-Aiyappan Parthiban (TN) bt 3/4-Sanjay Pawar (Otters Club) 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8; 2-Paramit Singh bt 3/4-B. Balamurugan (TN) 11-8, 11-4, 11-5.
Sub jr. & Jr. Nat: Girls U-19 (Semi-finals): 1-Anaka Alankamony (TN) bt 3/4-Sachika Ingale (Delhi) 11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4; 2-Aparajitha Balamurukan (TN) bt 3/4-Urwashi Joshi (Mah) 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-2.
Girls U-17 (SF): 1-Lakshya Raghavendran (TN) bt 5/8-Anandita Gupta (MP) 11-4, 11-1, 11-7; 2-Harshit Kaur (Delhi) bt 3/4-Tanvi Khanna (Delhi) 11-5, 11-9, 11-5.
Girls U-15 (SF): 1-Adya Advani (Delhi) bt 3/4-Ashita Pranaya Bhengra (TN) 11-4, 11-5, 11-13, 6-11, 11-5; 2-Jui Kalgutkar (Mah) bt 5/8-Akanksha Salunke (Goa) 11-8, 12-10, 11-4.
Girls U-13 (SF): 1-Nikita Joshi (Mah) bt 3/4-Shrishti Nagar (Mah) 11-4, 11-3, 11-1; 3/4-Diya Joukani (Mah) bt 2-Aakansha Rao (Mah) 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7.
Girls U-11 (SF): 1-Megha Bhatia (Delhi) bt 3/4-Ananya Dabke (Mah) 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6; 2-S. Samita (TN) bt 5/8-Aaryaa Ogale (Mah) 12-10, 11-7, 11-7.
Boys U-19 (SF): 1-Mahesh Mangaonkar (Mah) bt 3/4-Ranvijay Singh (TN) 11-2, 11-4, 11-2; 3/4-Deepak Mishra (TN) bt 5/8-Shashi Pandey (Mah) 11-6, 11-4, 4-11, 11-6.
Boys U-17 (SF): 1-Kush Kumar (TN) bt 3/4-Sandeep Ramachandran (TN) 11-8, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8; 3/4-Madhav Dhingra (Mah) bt 2-Vijay Kumar (TN) 11-8, 4-11, 17-15, 11-5.
Boys U-15 (SF): 3/4-Adhitya Raghavan (TN) bt 1-Ranjit Singh (UP) 12-14, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9, 11-4; 2-Velavan Senthilkumar (TN) bt Krish Kapur (WB) 11-8, 11-9, 11-4.
Boys U-13 (SF): 1-Chaitanya Shah (Mah) bt 3/4-Aryan Parikh (Mah) 11-1, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10; 2-Veer Chotrani (Mah) bt 3/4-Tushar Shahani (Mah) 11-9, 11-6, 12-10.
Boys U-11 (SF): 1-Yash Fadte (Goa) bt 3/4-Neel Joshi (Mah) 11-4, 11-5, 11-6; 3/4-S. Navaneeth Prabhu (TN) bt 2-Advait Adik (Mah) 11-8, 11-5, 11-1.
Sunday: 11 a.m. onwards Finals (Jr. & Sub Jr. Nat. Championship & 69th CCI-Western India Open, at the CCI)
