MANDPESHWAR CIVIC FEDERATION - ISP
DOUBLES SQUASH

(Men’s Top 8 & Handicap Doubles Event)  
6^th March 2005, at Mandpeshwar Civic Federation,

Gymkhana Road, Prem Nagar, Borivli (West), Mumbai – 400 092

At the prize distribution function held at Mandapeshwar Club from left to right: Mahendra Agarwal (Founder Director, ISP), Umesh Bhavsar (Hon. Sec. MCF),  Harinder Modi (Hon. Treasurer MCF), Dr Ramesh Chafekar (Vice President, MCF), Dr Kirit Patel (Joint Sec. MCF).  Sitting from left to right:  Rohan Gracias (Winner in Men's Top-8 Event), Mohammed Merchant & Tushar Bhambani (both Doubles Winner), Noreena (ISP), Mrs Chapekar & Shiv Malhotra (Sec. Gen. SRAM)

Rohan Gracias overpowers Cyrus Vakil for title

Mumbai:  Top seed Rohan Gracias, of  Khar Gymkhana survived  enigmatic Willingdon’s Cyrus Vakil’s deception and power play 15-11 15-13 to bag the title in the Top Eight Invitation singles event of the MCF-ISP Top Eight Invitation singles and doubles handicap squash tournament, hosted by the Mandpeshwar Civic Federation at their sports complex at Borivli.  

Hosts pair of Sunil Lalchandani and Gopi Mohite’s winning spree at last came to an end, al beit in the final when the MCF pair was beaten by Khar Gymkhana’s Mohd Merchant and Tushar Bambani  7-15 15-7 15-8.  In fact, the losers, who earlier went through gruelling semifinals 13-15 15-7 15-7 win against Cyrus Vakil/Harjinder Singh, started impressively, but as the match progressed, they were found wanting in stamina.  

Mercurial Cyrus Vakil’s frequent outbursts, no doubt kept  the crowd in good humour but not his rivals. Earlier  in the semifinals his doubles partner Harjinder Singh, had to bear the brunt of Cyrus’ antics before bowing out (15-13 3-15 15-13). However, in the final, Rohan displayed tremendous self control and temperament to overcome Cyrus’s gamesmanship to emerge  a 15-11 15-13 victor. It was however, to Cyrus’ credit that on his way to the final, he knocked out second and third seeds. 

The 17-year-old collegian Cyrus is one of those characters, who enlivens the event wherever he plays. And the goodly MCF crowd was treated to some exhilarating squash, thanks to this India No.3 junior’s  devil-may-care attitude. 

All Results
Men's Top-8 Final:Results:Results:
Rohan Garcias bt  Cyrus Vakil 15-11 15-13.
Semifinals:  
Rohan Garcias bt  Dheeraj Nagpal  15-14,11-15 15-6; 
Cyrus Vakil bt Harjinder Singh 15-13 3-15 15-13. 
Quarter –finals:
Rohan Garcias bt Vijay Waghela15-11 15-11; 
Cyrus Vakil bt Amitoj Singh15-9 15-12; 
Dheeraj Nagpal bt Sanjay Goyal 15-6 15-5.
Harjinder Singh bt Sachin Jadhav 15-8 8-15 15-12.

Doubles: 
Final: 
Mohd Merchant/Tushar Bambani bt Sunil Lalchandani/Gopi Mohite 7-15 15-7 15-8.
semifinals:
Mohd Merchant/Tushar Bambani bt Rohan Garcias/Sanjay Goyal 15-11 15-13; 
Sunil Lalchandani/Gopi Mohite  bt  Cyrus Vakil/Harjinder Singh 13-15 15-7 15-7. 
Quarterfinals:
Sanjay Goyal/Rohan Gracis bt Sunil Gambers/Santosh Kharat 12-15 17-14 15-8 
Gopi Mohite/Sunil Lalchandani bt Vijay Waghela/Dheeraj Nagpal 15-10 17-16; 
Harjinder Singh/Cyrus Vakil bt Sameer Kadodkar/Sameer Shah 6-15 15-10 15-11; 
Mohd Merchant/Tushar Bambani bt Sachin Jadhav/Sanjay Kalati 15-10, 15-11

TOTAL PRIZE MONEY: RS. 44,500.00/-

Organised by
Indian Squash Professionals

Under the auspices of
Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra

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61st Tournament Organised by ISP