Senior National Squash Championship: Quarter-finals results

Akanksha Salunkhe

Some great squash and surprise exits adds more spice to the SBT National Squash Championship Secretary General of the Kerala Squash Rackets Association organising committee Anish Mattew expressed his gratitude to State Bank of Travancore for partnering with the 63rd edition of National Squash Championship as the title sponsors. It augurs well for the promotion and development of the sport in the state and he is looking forward for a long term relationship with State Bank of Travancore.

Akanksha Salunkhe weathered the hard-hitting Lakshya Ragavendran to win in four games in the only upset in the women's category at the SBT 63rd National Championship. The 17-year-old Akanksha seeded 5/8 kept her cool and volleyed at every opportunity moving the hard hitting Lakshya to all four corners. In the end Akanksha's fluent movement ensured a place in the semifinals to play the second seed Harshit Kaur Jawanda.

On a bouncy court Gaurav Nandrajog’s hard hitting and attacking game seem to trouble Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu initially. But Harinder presented great resilience through the match and won it eventually.

Gaurav displayed an impressive brand of squash which included low hard drives and delicate drop shots as Harinder had to dig deep. Unfortunate for Gaurav Nandrajog that Harinder’s finishing shots decided some curial points.

Results

Men – QF

Saurav Ghosal (1), TN, def. Velavan Senthilkumar (5/8), TN, 11-5 11-5 11-8

Kush Kumar (3/4), TN, def. Sandeep Jangra (5/8), DL, 12-10 11-5 13-11

Ravi Dixit (3/4), TN, def. Vijay Kumar (5/8), TN, 11-3 11-5 13-11

Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (2), TN, def. Gaurav Nandrajog (5/8), DL, 14-12 11-8 14-16 12-10

Women – QF

Joshana Chinappa (1), TN, def. Anandita Gupta (5/8), MP, 11-4 11-4 11-2

Sunayna Kuruvilla (5/8), TN, def. Urwashi Joshi (3/4), MH, 11-9 14-12 11-4

Akanksha Salunkhe (5/8), GA, def. Lakshya Ragavendran (3/4), TN, 9-11 12-10 11-4 11-7

Harshit Kaur Jawanda (2), DL, def. Jannat Duhan (5/8), CH, 11-1 11-4 11-5

Professionals – QF

Paramit Singh (1), DL, def. Suraj Bhatt, MH, 7-11 11-4 11-5 11-5

Abhishek Agarwal, MH, def. Baskar Balamurugan (3/4), TN, 11-3 11-7 9-11 11-3

Sanjay Pawar (3/4), MH, def. Kalimuthu S, TN, 11-7 11-5 11-7

Parthiban Ayyapan (2), TN, def. Rohit Kadam, MH, 11-7 11-7 11-4

Men Over 35 – QF

Saurabh Nayar (1), CH, def. Kuncheria Marattukalam, KA, 11-5 11-7 12-10

Amitpal Kohli, MH, def. Shalu P John, KL, 11-2 11-2 11-3

Jay Asundi (3/4), KA, def. Ranjith Bala, MH, 11-2 7-11 11-8 13-11

Cyrus Poncha (2), TN, def. Benjamin Nedarupali, MH, 11-9 11-5 10-12 12-10

Men Over 40 – QF

Rishad Pandole (1), MH, def. John Jimmy Vellanikaran, KL, 11-2 11-4 11-2

Arvind Shetty, TS, def. Navin Shenoy (3/4), KA, 11-9 11-4 11-9

Vikas Nayar (2), CH, def. Khanga Ram Choudhary, RJ, 11-9 11-2 11-2

Men Over 45 – QF

Rohit Thawani (1), MH, def. Parag Patel, KL, 11-3 9-11 11-1 11-7

Ashish Mehta, MH, def. John Smith (3/4), KA, 10-12 11-4 11-8 11-8

Rajeev Bhatia (3/4), KA, def. Joyson Bothello, MH, 11-8 11-7 11-9

Sanjay Rajpal (2), KA, def. Col Vikram Aditya, UP, 11-4 11-6 11-5

Men Over 50 – QF

Chetan Ladiwala (1), MH, def. Cb Gupta, KL, w.o.

Jaideep Grewal (3/4), CH, def. Sanjay Saxena, MH, w.o.

Sriram Rao (3/4), MH, def. Raju Velayudhan S, KL, 11-1 11-3 11-3

Sanyog Jain, KA, def. Sanjay Suraj Jalan (2), WB, 11-7 11-7 11-6

Men Over 55 – RR1

Arun Rabindranath, KA, def. Lalit Kumar Agnihotri, MH, 5-11 11-5 11-8 11-9

Vaman Apte, MH, def. Sajjan Tailor, WB, 11-1 11-1 11-9