RAJIV GANDHI MINI OLYMPICS - SQUASH TOURNAMENT
18th May 2006 at Juhu Gymkhana, Mumbai
  

 Vikram Malhotra (Winner, Mens Open) receiving the medal from Mrs Margaret Alva 

Yet another Squash tournament was added this year to Mumbai's busy calendar, with Sanjay Nirupam taking a massive initiative for sports. The Rajiv Gandhi Mini Olympics Squash tournament was held from 14th to 18th May 2006 at Juhu Gymkhana. The event saw several players making a mark and upsetting some established players' apple carts. The most noteworthy player to emerge champion was Raghav Mehrotra who stalled Ishan Advani's dream run as champion in several recent events in the Under-11 age group. Aadit Zaveri pocketed his second title in the Under-15 event- watch out for this player who has improved by leaps and bounds in physical and mental strength and has the genes of a Champion National swimmer. In the same age group, Sagar Murudeshwar emerged from Club Aquaria- the new watering hole of squash champions- as a runner-up, beating established players like Pranay Merchant and Samir Mistry on the way. Vikram Malhotra won a double crown- Mens Open and Handicap doubles with partner Sanjay Goyal. Mahesh Mangaonkar bounced back from his earlier defeat to Abhishek Pradhan to overcome him in a convencing 3-1 win keeping the rivalry between both these talented youngsters going. Naveen Jhangra had it very easy in the boys Under 17 since he played against a rookie Ronak Kamat who did well to reach the final of the U-17 event. Vikram Malhotra clinched the Mens open title with a straight win over Siddharth Samantray. Vikram played controlled squash and slowed down the pace to telling effect and Samantray had no answer to the variety of stroke displayed by Vikram.

A.I. Singh moved from baby-sitting Rajat Agarwal to a more solid player- Navin Jhangra as his doubles partner. The added depth in the team led to their reaching the finals defeating the solid pair of Rajesh Rajani and Dheeraj Nagpal in a hard fought semifinal. In the finals the pair of Sanjay Goyal and Vikram Malhotra combined well and packed just to many punches and won the gold with the convensing 3 set wins 

    
All finals 

Boys U-11 : Raghav Mehrotra beat Ishaan Advani 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6 
3rd & 4th place : Arjun Kochar beat Kunj Rawani 11-4, 11-9, 11-6

Boys U-13 : Mahesh Mangaonkar beat Abhishek Pradhan 11-3, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7
3rd & 4th place : Aakash Borwankar beat Caran Arora 11-5, 10-12, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5

Boys U-17 : Naveen Jhangra beat Ronak Kamat 11-2, 11-4, 11-0
3rd & 4th place : Waqar Pathan beat Arjun Toteja 12-10, 11-4, 11-1

Boys U-15 : Aaadit Zaveri beat Sagar Murdeshwar 11-3, 11-8, 11-4
3rd & 4th place : Sameer Mistry beat Deerav Moolani 12-10, 5-11, 13-11, 11-8

Doubles handicap : Sanjay Goyal & Vikram Malhotra beat A.I. Singh and Naveen Jangra 7-15, 15-12, 15-12
3rd & 4th place : Dhiraj Nagpal & Rajesh Rajani beat Sanjay Pawar & Vijay Sonawane5-11, 15-8

Mens Open : Vikram Malhotra beat Siddharth Samantray 11-4, 11-5, 11-5
3rd & 4th place : Dhiraj Nagpal beat Sanjay Pawar 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6

All Semifinals :

Boys Under 11 :
Ishan Advani Beat Kunj Rawani 11-6, 11-5, 11-6
Raghav M. Beat Arjun Kochar 12-10, 11-9, 11-4

Boys Under 13 :
Abhishek Pradhan  Beat Caran Arora 11-1, 11-2, 11-7
Mahesh Mangaonkar Beat Akash 11-6, 11-5, 11-6

Boys U-15 
Aadit Zaveri Beat Deerav Moolani 11-7, 11-3, 11-7
Sagar Murdeshwar Beat Sameet Mistry 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6

Boys U-17 
Navin Jangra Beat Waqar Pathan 11-3, 11-7, 11-1
Ronak Kamat Beat Arjun Toteja 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4

Mens Open :
Siddharth Samantray Beat Dhiraj Nagpal 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-9
Vikram Malhotra Beat Sanjay Pawar

Doubles Handicap 
Sanjay Goyal & Vikram Malhotra Beat Sanjay Pawar & Vijay Sonawane 10-15, 15-8, 15-8
A. I. Singh & Navin Jhangra Beat Rajesh Rajani & Dhiraj Nagpal 15-13, 15-12

All Quarterfinals : 

Boys Under 11 :
Ishaan Advani Beat Harsh Parekh 11-5,11-2,11-2
Kunj Rawani Beat Aditya Singhi 11-3,11-12
Raghav Mehrotra Beat Karan Kochar 11-4,11-6,11-0
Arjun Kochar Beat Yohan Pandole 12-10,11-2,11-5

Boys Under 13 :
Abhishek Pradhan Beat Neelay 11-3, 11-3, 11-4
Caren Arora Beat Aditya Kochar 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 11-6
Aakash Borwankar Beat Riyan Bhatia 11-2, 11-2, 11-3
Mahesh Mangaonkar Beat Vardhan Ladiwala 11-2, 11-1, 11-1

Boys Under 15 :
Aadit Zaveri  Beat Sanchit Mehta 11-4, 11-3, 11-5
Deerav Moolani Beat Alok Sanghvi 11-1, 11-2, 11-1
Samir Mistry Beat Rahil Fazelbhoy 11-6, 11-7, 11-7
Sagar Murdeshwar Beat Pranay Merchant 11-9, 12-10, 11-6

Boys U-17 
Waqar Pathan Beat Nikhil Nagpal 11-1, 11-3, 11-2
Ronak Kamat Beat Akashr Patel 11-5, 11-3, 11-2

Doubles Handicap :
Sanjay Goyal & Vikram Malhotra Beat Imroz Pathan / Waqar Pathan 15-10, 4-15, 15-11
Sanjay Pawar & Vijay Sonawane Beat Raiz Mohd. & Sunil Bhandari 15-10, 15-11
Rajesh Rajani & Dhiraj Nagpal Beat Mohd. Merchant & Tushar Bambani 17-15, 15-9
A. I Singh & Navin Jangra Beat Sachin Jadhav & Amit Kohli 17-14, 15-12

Mens Open 
Vikram Malhotra Beat Mohd. Merchant W/O
Sanjay Pawar Beat Sachin Jadhav 11-6, 11-2, 6-11, 11-7
Siddharth Samantray Beat Deepak Moolani 11-6, 11-5, 11-6
Dhiraj Nagpal Beat Amit Kohli 11-5, 11-3, 11-1

    

Tournament Director : Sanjay Goyal

Tournament Co-ordinator : Vicky Kalludi

Tournament Committee: Mahendra Agarwal, Ashok Nagpal, Riaz Mohammed, Joginder Singh, Shiv Kumar Dhanuka, A.I.Singh, Noreena Pereira, Ashish Gupta, Shiv Malhotra

Ex Officio Committee JVPG Club: Dilip J. Kathrani – Hon. President, Atul Barot – Hon.Vice President, 
Jagdish B. Parikh – Hon. Secretary, Pravin  Mehta - Hon.Treasurer 

Under the auspices of: 
Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra  

Click here for more photographs of this tournament
    

70th Tournament Organised by ISP
 

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