Prizes / Results : 1996 / 1997 / 1998 / 2000 / 2001 / 2002 / 2003 / 2004 /2006

All Winners with their trophies from left to right: Mahesh Mangaonkar (Boys Under 13), Dheeya Somaya (Girls Under 13), Vikram Malhotra (Boys Under 17) , Shivangi Paranjpe (Girls Under 19), Aditya Jagtap (Boys Under 15), Ishaan Advani (Boys Under 11) & Sandeep Jangra (Boys Under 19)

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 Press Articles of the tournament :

Shivangi wins battle of siblings Mahesh overcomes jitters in u-13 final
(Article in DNA, Mumbai : 12/9/2005)

Shivangi won the battle of Paranjape’s to clinch the girls under-19 title in the Airtel All India School/Colleges Squash Championship at the Khar Gymkhana court here on Sunday. Shivangi outpaced her elder sister Madhura in straight games 11-5, 11-10, 11-10 to clinch the title.

Sandeep Jangra denied Vikram Malhotra the double crown beating him 3-0 in the u-19 boys section. Vikram had won the under-17 title earlier in the day. Sandeep went on to notch up a 11-9, 12-10, 15-13 in the match which lasted for 75 minutes.

Shivangi had an easy first game 11-5. But the experienced Madhura came up with her best in the second game, but could not rise when it mattered the most. Down 9-10 in the game, Shivangi overcame the game points to clinch the issue 12-10.

Madhura had more advantage in the third game as she was up 10-6. But the stubborn Shivangi rallied superbly to complete her mission with a 12-10 final verdict.

“Yes, it was fraustrating, I  was down 6-10. But a few unforced errors by my sister (Madhura) made things easy for me,” said Shivangi. “Things did not work out well for me. I did have an upper hand in the second and third games but, I ran out of idea,” stated Madhura who has not won against her younger sister in their last four meetings.

Mahesh Mangaonkar over came mid-game jitters before prevailing over Abhishek Jagtap to be crowned as the under-13 champion in an all Don Bosco affair.

Squash Championship: Vikram, Saumya in quarters
(Article in Free Press Journal, Mumbai : 10/9/2005)

Playing true to reputation, top seed Vikram Malhotra from H R College who was quite consistent with his stroke selection, had little progress as he recorded a comfortable straight games 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 victory over Pranay Merchant in the boys under-17 pre quarter finals of the Khar Gymkhana Airtel All India School/College Individual Squash Championship being played at Khar Gymkhana on Friday.

The third day of the tournament, conducted under the auspices of the Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra, also witnessed second seed Naishad Lalwani charting an identical course on his way to the last eight stage. Coming up with a solid performance, Lalwani was never really stretched against Pune’s Deerav Moolani before chalking out a comfortable win.

In a category where the matches went on the expected lines with the fancied players coming through, third seed Laxman Joshi enroute to making his way into the quarters, encountered initial resistance from Jay Bhagat before getting into his stride for a 11-10, 11-5, 11-7, win.

Shivangi, Sandeep clinch U-19 titles
(Article in Free Press Journal, Mumbai : 12/9/2005)

Coming up with impressive performances, Shivangi Paranjpe and Sandeep Jangra hogged the limelight by clinching the girls and boys under-19 titles respectively on the concluding day of the Khar Gymkhan Airtel All India School/College Individual Squash Open Championship.

In what was excepted to be an evenly contested encounter, the second seed Shivangi had things in countrol for a major part of the match as she accounted for her elder sister Madhura in straight games 11-5, 11-10, 11-10 to stamp her supremancy in girls under-19 section at Khar Gymkhana on Sunday.

Later in the boys-19 summit clash, which was also the last event scheduled, top seed Jindal Academy’s Sandeep Jangra encountered some initial resistance from Vikram Malhotra, the second seed before coming through in straight games by the scoreline of 11-8, 11-10, 11-10.

In afiercely contested match for the third place played in this category, fourth seed Naishad Lalwani was made to work much better of Laxman Joshi.

Overall, hardly any surprises were witnessed on the concluding day of the prestigious championship, being conducted under the auspices of the Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra (SRAM), as the fancied players came through in their respective categories.

Vikram Malhotra, the top seed the boys under-17 category, justified his top billing after he overcame a mid-game stutter to quell the challenge posed by second seed Naishad Lalwani 11-3, 8-11, 11-2, 11-6, while the third place in this section was grabbed by fourth seed Cyrus Vakil who made his way past Laxman Joshi, the third seed.

On a day when majority of the results went on the expected lines, unseeded and surprise package of the tournament. Dheeya Somaya’s (Indore) performance in the finals of the girls under-13 segment saw her drew attention in great measure as she scalped yet another fancied player.

Maintaining her superb run of form, Dheeya capped her consistent showing by deservingly clinching the title with another inspired show, this time against the second seed Ankita Sharma by winning the summit clash in four games.

That’s the spirit : Malhotra overcomes fatigue to put up valiant fight
(Article in Mid-Day, Mumbai : 12/9/2005)

If I didn,t have the under-17 final to play as well, I would have surely defeated him.” These were the words of a tried Vikram Malhotra shortly after going down to top seed Sandeep Jangra in the boys under-19 final of the Khar Gymkhana Airtel All India School/College Individual Squash Open Championship at the Khar Gymkhana yesterday. Malhotra lost 8-11, 10-12, 13-15 but not before putting up a spirited showing in the 35 minute contest.

After claiming the boys under-17 title with with a 11-3, 8-11, 11-2, 11-6 in a tricky encounter against Naishad Lalwani earlier in the day, nobody, not even Malhotra himself expected the clash with Jangra to go the distance that it did. “I was extremely surprised at the way I played and I think he (Jangra) was even more surprised than me. I don’t think he expected me to play so well,’ said Malhotra.

After taking the opening game, Jangra had to earn point there after with Malhotra stretching the next couple of games into nail biting tie-breakers. But in the end, the support for the underdog wasn’t enough to match the fatigue from playing his second final of the day. “Although I won, I’m disappointed with my performance especially when one considers that he (Malhotra) had already played a final earlier,” said Jangra.

In the girls u-19 final which pitted sister against sister, the younger of the Paranjpe siblings, Shivangi prevailed over her elder sister and top seed Madhura in straight games, 11-5, 11-10, 11-10. “It’s extremely difficult to play against each other because we both know each other’s games so well,” said Shivangi while Madhura smiled in agreement.

The boys u-15 final saw no such upset with 13 year old Aditya Jagtap getting the better of second seed Abhinav Sinha 11-4, 11-8, 11-4. “Im satisfied with my relaxed in each of my matches,” said Jagtap.

Don Bosco lad making waves : Mahesh Mangoankar is a good prospect, says a state squash coach
(Article in DNA, Mumbai : 12/9/2005)

It is a family affair. Father (Dayanad) was a weightlifter, mother (Anjali) was shuttler and he (Mahesh) is a squash player. But what keeps the youngster apart from his parent is his success. He has scaled new heights which his parents could not.

Mahesh Mangaonkar, a class VI student from Don Bosco School in Borivali, is termed a champion on the block. “ He works hard and is ready to learn,” says a state squash coach A I Singh.

Mahesh started playing badminton when he was five but switched to squash three years latter. And since then has won many laurels. He doesn’t remember how many. He cherishes his first major most. “I will never forget my first major which I won at the Otter Club in 2003.”

Mahesh’s idol is Jonathan Power and he makes it a point to watch the clippings of Power’s game before any match. Mahesh occasionally keeps aside the racket and officiates the matches too. “By refereeing, I gain more knowledge about the game. I also get to experience what it is to be an official other than a player.”

It has been a rather sedate year for Mahesh. “I just went out for one tournament and since I have graduated to the under-13 category, it will take some time for me to settle.”

Mahesh is no pushover when it comes to academics. “I always want him to study well and he has not disappointed me on this front either,” say mother Anjali.

Squash may join mainstream of schools sports
(Article in Times of India, Mumbai : 11/09/2005)

Mumbai: If quantity begets quality then there is hope for squash in the city. The ongoing Khar Gymkhana Airtel All-India Schools and Juniors College Tournament has attracted 275 juniors. Prizes worth Rs.30 lakh are at stake.

Next week’s Little Masters junior squash event at the Willingdon Sports Club, Mahalaxmi has attracted a record 318 entries. The prize money is Rs.1.8 lakh, but a new sponsors SKF bearing has made the scene.

But the best news is that the parent body for schools sports in the city, the MSSA, has also evinced interest in promoting the sport.

Indian squash professional’s Ashish Gupta had a meetings with MSSA secretary Shaji Kuttiani about squash promotion. Shaji promised to put it before the committee. This would mean three squash tournaments for juniors a year in the near future!

Willingdon pioneered the first schools event 12 years ago. Otters Club then joined the fray. Khar Gymkhana and ISP then took the event to a different level, encouraging the winners with lavish gift as prizes, including TV sets and DVD players.

Diwan downs fancied Anup
(Article in Indian Express, Mumbai : 9/09/2005)

Showing great fighting qualities, unseeded Joran Diwan of H R College Mumbai staged a great recovery act as he rallied from an opening game reversal to get the better of Jindal Academy’s Anup Sharma 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 5-11, 11-9 for a place in the boys under-19 quarterfinals of the Khar Gymkhana Airtel All-India Inter Schools/College Individual Squash Championship being played at Khar Gymkhana on Thursday.

In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Diwan who made a hesitant start to the proceedings, regrouped and came back strongly to win the next two games quite comfortably.

At that stage, it seemed that carrying on the momentum, Diwan would close out the contest quickly, however Sharma had other ideas as he put the match on level terms to force the decider, where Diwan held his nerves and played the big points well to prevail.

It’s a sisters’ act in U-19 final
(Article in Free Press Journal, Mumbai : 11/9/2005)

The semifinal matches on Saturday in the girls’ under-19 category of the Khar Gymkhana Airtel All-India Inter School/College Individual squash open championship went exactly as per the script. The top seed Madhura Paranjpe and second seed her sister Shivangi entered the finals registering comfortable victorious over their opponents.

Top seed Madhura Paranjpe didn’t have any problem in over coming Indore’s Dheeya Somaya. Madhura won the match in straight games 11-4, 11-4, 11-3. second seeded Shivangi Paranjpe also had an easy outing against fourth seeded Shaheen Madraswalla. She top won her match in straight games.

In the boys singles semi-finals contrasting victorious were recorded any top seed Vikram Malhotra and second seed Naishad Lalwani.

Vikram played true to his from as he made short work of his opponent Cyrus Vakil in straight games 11-4, 11-8, 11-4.

But second seed Lalwani had fight really hard to win his encounter. In a match of fluctuating fortunes, showing a great resolves and spirit Lalwani twice came from behind to quell the spirited challenge of Jindal Academy’s Laxman Joshi by 11-13, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Though the Lalwani-Joshi encounter went the full distance, the quality of play was not of the highest order. More than the individual brilliance, it was the spate of unforced errors by both the players that made their semi-final match a humdinger.

But in the final analysis, it was Lalwani’s better hold on his nerves that saw him carry the day. Having come back from behind twice in the match, he gained the crucial momentum that he didn’t fritter away in the decider.

Another result that turned out to be talking point of the day was the semi-finals of the girls under-13 section where unseeded Dheeya Somaya clawed back from a two game deficit to stun top seeded Sachika Balwani 10-11, 10-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5.

63rd Tournament Organised by ISP

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