Seeds
cruise into quarters (Article in
Mid-Day, Mumbai : 16/2/2006)
SEEDED players hardly broke into a sweat as they
progressed into the quarter finals of the boys U-15 Rs.80,000 prize money
The Club-ISP Squash Championships at the glass backed squash courts of The
Club, yesterday.
Second seed Viraj Nair brushed aside Anish Gupta 11-2,
11-2 to make it to the last eight, while equally impressive was third seed
Riyan Bhatia, who demolished Shashwat Hora 11-4, 11-4.
In the boy’s under-19 qualifying round action, Virendra
Pawar defeated Kunal Sompura 11-5, 11-2, while Prateek Zaveri got the better
of Tanmay Anand 11-2, 11-2.
Merchant
upsets third seed Bhatia (Article in
Asian Age, Mumbai : 18/2/2006)
Unseeded Pranay caused a major upset in the quarter
finals of the boy’s under-15 age group, defeating third seed Riyan Bhatia in
three games in the Rs.80,000 prize money The Club-ISP Squash Championships
at the glass backed courts of The Club, here, on Friday.
Merchant prevailed 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 to set up a last
four clash with second seed Viraj Nair, who dropped a game before outplaying
Sagar Murdeshwar 11-3, 7-11, 11-5, 11-0. Top seed Aakash Borwankar booked
his place in the last four, but not before some hiccups against unseeded
Dheerav Moolani, which cost him a game before winning 11-8, 8-11, 11-4,
11-9.
Nagpal wins
men’s title (Article in
Asian Age, Mumbai : 19/2/2006)
Dheeraj Nagpal displayed tremendous reserves of stamina
and self confidence to upset top seed Niraj Shirgaokar and win his first
major men’s title in the Rs,80,000 prize money The Club-ISP Squash
Championship, which concluded at the glass backed squash courts of the The
Club, here, on Saturday.
The 20 year old student from H.R. College, seeded
second, put behind him the disappointment of losing in the semi finals of
the handicap doubles event and even recovered from a 1-2 defecit to win in
five games at 3-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8.
Nagpal, who just graduated from the under-19 ranks won
Rs.10,000 and a glittering trophy, while Shirgaokar, who frittered away the
early advantage had to be content with Rs.5,000.
In the boys under-19, top seed Cyrus Vakil, making the
best of the absence of top players like Sandeep Jangra and Vikram Malhotra,
lifted the title with 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 win over Prateek Zaveri.
How Pranay
Merchant battled it out and beat mate Riyan Bhatia in the Club-ISP squash
tourney yesterday (Article in
Mid-Day, Mumbai : 18/2/2006)
Pranay Merchant entered the semi finals of The Club-ISP
boys Squash under-15 championship at The Club (Andheri) by outplaying his
best friend Riyan Bhatia 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-6) in the quarter finals
yesterday.
After trailing 4-7 in the inaugural game, Pranay came
back strongly to win seven points on the trot to lead 1-0.
Thereafter, he kept the
momentum going in the next two games to wrap up the match in
straight sets.
However, the 13 year old was not too excited about the
win as it came at the expense of his friend’s dismissal. “We are buddies and
play frequently against each other. I’ve been in competitive squash since
two years, while Riyan has just started,” said Pranay, before he went on to
praise his friend nevertheless, “Today he played well to engage me in long
rallies.”
Riyan however had to regrets going down to his mate.
“Once in a blue moon, I snatch a game from him.
Otherwise it’s always he who wins,” quipped Riyan. “So
this time too I was expecting to finish on the losing side, but not before
putting up a good fight,” added the 12 year old St Mary’s ICSE student.
Ironically, Pranay was unseeded in the tournament while
Riyan was seeded three.
Pranay, who draws inspiration from international squash
star Jonathan Power, was quick to acknowledge his mentor and idol, Deepak
Moolani, a senior squash player. “Deepak sir is above 40 but is still going
great guns. I like him for his consistency. He always makes it to the
semi-finals at least,” said Pranay.
Though has a couple of nationals to his Milo All Star,
Malaysia junior open participation in 2005, he knows that he still has to
improve a lot before taking on talented players like Abhishek Pradhan and
Mahesh Mangaonkar in his age group.
However, the youngster is pretty satisfied with the way
things are going as he does not prefer to rest his future on the game.
“I want to continue playing at the competitive level
until I seek admission into an IIT College or a reputed foreign
University.”
He will clash with second seed Viraj Nair, who out
played Sagar Murdeswar 3-1 (11-3, 7-11, 11-5, and 11-0).
Top seed Akash Borwankar booked his place in the last
four. He defeated unseeded Dheerav Moolani 3-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9). He
will meet fourth seed Ness Billimoria, who brushed aside the challenge of
Pranay Motta 11-3, 11-8, 11-6.
Singh
advances (Article in
Asian Age, Mumbai : 17/2/2006)
Amitoj Inder Singh, better known as A.I. Singh, is a
recognized squash coach in his own right. On Thursday, he proved that he
still has it in him to play a good competitive game of squash when he
defeated professional Vijay Sonawane in three games in the men’s top 16
invitation event of the Rs.80,000 prize money The Club-ISP Squash
Championship at The Club. A I Singh prevailed 6-11, 11-9, 11-7.
Also proving his squash prowess was another squash
professional Vijay Waghela, who got the better of fancied junior Cyrus Vakil
in the three games.
In the boys under-15 matches, top seed Aakash Borwankar
and second seed Viraj Nair recorded easy straight game victories to enter
the quarter finals.
Seeded
players advance with ease (Article in
Indian Express, Mumbai : 16/2/2006)
SEEDED players hardly broke a sweat as they progressed
to the boys under-15 quarter finals in the Rs.80,000 prize money The
Club-ISP Squash Championships at the glass backed squash courts of The Club,
here, on Wednesday.
Second seed Viraj Nair brushed aside Anish Gupta 11-2,
11-2 to enter the quarter finals, while equally impressive was third seed
Riyan Bhatia, who demolished Shashwant Hora 11-4, 11-4.
In the boys under-19 qualifying round action, Virendra
Pawar defeated Kunal Sompura 11-5, 11-2, while Prateek Zaveri downed Tanmay
Anand 11-2, 11-2.
