THE LEELA – ISP SQUASH CLASSIC 
(HANDICAP TEAM EVENT)  
At Hotel The Leela, Mumbai : 25^th July 2004

All Results :

Finals :

Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana bt Khar Gymkhana 3-2
Jay Thapa bt Suraj Shetty 15-8, 10-15, 15-6;
Rakshak Malhotra lost to Vijay Waghela 15-9, 9-15, 9-15;
Bipin Batra lost to Dhiraj Nagpal 12-15, 14-17;
Avinash Bhatija bt Kunal Jani 15-7, 8-15, 15-11;
Rajesh Sonawane bt Rohan Gracious 15-11, 7-15, 15-11

Results of Semifinals 

Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana bt Chembur Gymkhana 3-0 
Bipin Batra bt Joyson Bothelo 15-14, 17-14; 
Avinash Bhatija bt Raj Gill 15-12, 17-15; 
Jonathan Joshi bt Rishi Mehra 15-11, 15-11. 

The Leela bt Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana 3-1 
Abhishek Pradhan bt Kalpesh Mehra 15-13, 15-10; 
Sahil Shah bt Ashish Mehra 15-9, 16-17, 15-12; 
Sanjay Pawar lost to Siddharth Samantray 15-10, 9-15, 12-15; 
Rahil Shah bt Uday Mehra 9-15, 15-8, 15-12

Otters Club bt Hyatt Regency 3-1 
Tushar Bhambani lost to Brian Sopher 10-15, 15-11, 13-15; 
Vijay Sonawane bt Hillary Fernandes 17-14, 15-12; 
Cyrus Appoo bt Ajit P 15-14, 15-11; 
Mohammed Merchant bt Pawan Poddar 15-10, 15-13

Khar Gymkhana bt Navi Mumbai 3-1 
Karan Malhotra lost to Hari Shenawa 8-15, 15-10, 11-15; 
Kishore Wanvare bt Leon Emanuel 15-12, 16-17, 15-13; 
Rohan Gracias bt Shyam Wadkar 15-14, 17-14; 
Dheeraj Nagpal bt Sonu Merani 17-16, 9-15,15-12

Results of Quarterfinals

WILLINGDON CATHOLIC GYM BEAT CHEMBUR GYM (3-0)
Bipin Batra beat Joyson Bothelo 15-14, 17-14
Avinash Bhatija beat Raj Gill 15-12, 17-15
Jonathan Joshi beat Rishi Mehra 15-11, 15-11

THE LEELA BEAT JUHU VILEPARLE GYM (3-1)
Abhishek Pradhan beat Kalpesh Mehra 15-13, 15-10
Sahil Shah beat Ashish Mehra 15-9, 16-17, 15-12
Sanjay Pawar lost to Siddharth Samantray 15-10, 9-15, 12-15
Rahil Shah beat Uday Mehra 9-15, 15-8, 15-12

Otters Club beat Hyatt Regency 3-1
Tushar Bambani lost to Brian Sopher 10-15, 15-11, 13-15
Vijay Sonawane beat Hillary Fernandes 17-14, 15-12
Cyrus Apoo beat Ajit 15-14, 15-11
Mohammed Merchant beat Pawan Poddar 15-10, 15-13

Khar Gymkhana beat Navi Mumbai 3-1
Karan Malhotra lost to Hari Shenawa 8-15, 15-10, 11-15
Kishore Wanvare beat Leon Emanuel 15-12, 16-17, 15-13
Rohan Gracias beat Shyam Wadkar 15-14, 17-14
Dheeraj Nagpal beat Sonu Merani 17-16, 9-15, 15-12 

Results of 5^th Leg as on 11/7/2004

CHEMBUR GYMKHANA BEAT MATUNGA GYMKHANA 3-2
Bala beat Nikhil 15-4, 15-13
Mihir Bawa lost to Rishi Mehta 6-15, 15-9, 6-15
Joyson Bothello beat Sanjay Waghmare 15-13, 15-8
Joginder Singh lost to Shaunak Shah 17-15, 10-15, 12-15
Navneet lost to Sameer 12-15, 15-10, 12-15 

WILLINGDON CATHOLIC GYM BEAT GOLDEN SWAN 5-0
Jay Thapa beat Saurav Modi 8-15, 15-12, 15-13
Karan Batra beat Ronak 15-13, 15-11
Bipin Batra beat Aadesh Gamare 5-15, 15-10, 15-11
Rajesh Sonawane w/o
Avinash Bhatija w/o

OTTERS CLUB BEAT HYATT REGENCY 4-1
Anurag Gill beat Debashish 9-15, 15-11, 15-14
Tushar Bambai beat Pawan Poddar 11-15, 15-10, 15-10
Vijay Sonawane beat Riaz Mohammed 17-15, 11-15, 15-13
Mohammed Merchant lost to Brian Sopher 17-15, 15-11, 15-8
Karan Bhatty W/o

NAVI MUMBAI W/O GOREGAON SPORTS CLUB 5-0

THE LEELA W/O COUNTRY CLUB 5-0

Press Articles of the tournament
 

Juhu Gym dump The Leela for crown
(Article in Indian Express, Mumbai : 17/7/2004)

Teenager Abhishek Pradhan and youngster Sanjay Pawar proved a formidable combination for The Leela, winning their singles matches respectively, but their efforts were in vain as their team went down 2-3 to Juhu Gymkhana in the 5^th round of the Rs.20,000 prize money The Leela-ISP Squash Classic, a handicap team event, organised by the Indian Squash Professionals, at the The Leela, on Sunday. 

Pawar gave The Leela a winning start with a creditable 15-6, 15-10 victory over Siddharth Samantray, but Prabhakar Darekar restored parity for the Juhu side with a hard-fought win over Sahil Shah. Pradhan then put The Leela into the lead once again with a 15-7, 15-13, 15-12 win over Ashish Mehta, but both Ramesh Dande and Gautam Kakani lost their matches to Kalpesh Mehta and Anil Mohite respectively to give Juhu Gymkhana victory.

The Leela, Otters Khar Gym, WCG in Semi finals
(Article in Free Press Journal, Mumbai : 21/7/2004)

After six weeks of intense and exciting squash, The Leela, Otters Club, Khar Gymkhana and Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana booked their berths in the semi finals of the Rs.20,000 prize money The Leela-ISP Squash Classic, a handicap team event, organised by Indian Squash Professionals, at the glass back squash court of The Leela, on Sunday. 

While The Leela defeated Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana 3-1 to set up a last four clash with Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana, Otters Club were served well by Cyrus Appoo, Vijay Sonawane and Mohammed Merchant, who won their Individual encounters to carve a 3-1 win over Hyatt Regency. Coming through to meet Otters in the round of four was Khar Gymkhana, who brushed aside the challenge of Navi Mumbai Sports Club 3-1. 

After Tushar Bhambani had lost the opening encounter to Brain Sopher of Hyatt, it was Cyrus Appoo and Vijay Sonawane who won their Hillary Fernandes respectively to put Otters in the lead. Mohammed Merchant then defeated Oawan Poddar 15-10, 15-13 to seals the issue in Otter’s favour.

Sonawane rescues WCG
(Article in Mid-day, Mumbai : 26/7/2004)

A Sizeable handicap, added to the years of playing experience as a professional tilted the scales in Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana player Rajesh Sonawane’s favour, who won the decider 15-11, 7-15, 15-11 against Khar Gymkhana’s Rohan Gracious and gave his team the title in the Rs.20,000 prize money The Leela-ISP Squash Classic, a handicap team event, organised by the The Leela, yesterday. 

After the teams were tied 2-2 in the final, a first game handicap of 8 points to Sonawane did seem a bit unfair to his rival, who did well to reduce the gap to 10-11 before slackening off and losing 11-15. A reduced handicap of 4 in the second game saw the old warhorse Sonawane play some loose shots and hand the game to Gracious on a platter, forcing the organizer to once again raise the handicap to 6 for the decider. It was here that Sonawane showed his true colours. 

Gracious fell prey to Sonawane’s hustling tactics, and though he managed to reduce the margin to 3 points at 8-11, Sonawane came up with some brilliant winners to keep inching ahead. 

By the time Gracious decided to throw caution to the winds and go for his Winners, it was too late and he could not help the defending champions retain their title. However, there was solace for Khar Gymkhana in the semi-finals as they routed Otters Club 3-0 for a place in the title round.

Rajani are in Khar Gymkhana
(Article in Times of India, Mumbai : 9/6/2004)

Rajesh Rajani downed Rahil Shah 15-10, 15-13 to help Khar Gymkhana secure a 3-2 victory over The Leela in the first round of the Rs.20,000 prize money The Leela-ISP Squash Classic, handicap team event, organised by the Indian Squash Professionals (ISP), under the auspices of the Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra (SRAM), played at the glass-back squash court of The Leela on Sunday.

54th Tournament Oganised by ISP

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