BRAVE HEART ASHOK KAMTE SQUASH
(Doubles Top-8 by Invitation & Doubles Handicap)
From 6^th to 8^th February 2009 at Juhu Vileparle Gymkhana, Juhu, Mumbai.
 

All the winners of the Doubles Top 8 & Doubles Handicap alongwith the ISP officials and on the Dias from left to right :
Aashish Bhagra, Mr. Bere & Ms. Revathi Bere (In laws of Ashok Kamte), Archana Tyagi (Additional Commissioner of Police),
Mr. Anil Mahesh (Hon. Secretary, Juhu Gymkhana), Harsh Toreja, Film Actress Rituparna Sengupta &
Mr. Shiv Malhotra (Secretary General, SRAM)

Squash pays its tribute to Braveheart Kamte
Pradeep Vijayakar

Mumbai: Sunday saw the city's sporting fraternity give a fitting tribute to Ashok Kamte one of three super cops who died in the 26/11 terror blasts. 

Mahendra Agarwal's Indian Squash Professionals held a squash tournament at Juhu Gymkhana called the Braveheart Ashok Kamte Memorial Squash Tournament. 

Ashish Bhagra, who played squash with Kamte when he was in the SP Rural Police in Thane district said, ``He had respect for rules and never argued over points.'' 

Giving away the prizes Archana Tyagi, ACP, west region, gave newer insights into Kamte's life. "Kamte was my first SP when I joined the force at Karad. His mantra was `phele action, phir section'. He meant one could always find justification for action from the books. He led from the front as we saw when six terrorists, being taken from Thane to Kolhapur, escaped near Satar. Kamte wanted to chase them himself all the way to Karnataka but had to be dissuaded from doing so as his job was to say in charge of his district,'' said Tyagi adding, "He was the sort of officer I would give my life for. That's the type of respect he commanded from the constabulary. At his farewell at Satara people wept openly on the streets, Kamte too.'' Tyagi said Kamte would love play sport with with the constables rather than fellow officers. At recruitment time he would want to be present to interview cops with a sporting background. It's numbing when one thinks of him. One still can't believe he is dead.'' 

Kamte's sister-in-law Revati Dhere said Kamte was jack of all trades (sports) and master of some. ``He played individual and team sports: shot put, javelin throw, tennis, swimming, basketball, hockey, football, basketball, weightlifting. He won the best all-round sportsman prize at St Xavier's College in 1983-84, was Maharashtra champ in the shot put, won laurels in junior powerlifting and won the Maharaj Singh trophy at the National Police Academy at Hyderabad and the Akruti Cup for unarmed combat.''

Mahendra Agarwal announced the tournament will be an annual affair.

Jangra, Mangaonkar lift title
 
The combination of experience and youth prevailed in the Top 8 doubles final of the Rs 50,000 prize money Braveheart Ashok Kamte Squash Tournament, organized by ISP, which concluded at the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana, here, late on Sunday.

Former India player Vikas Jangra and talented teenager Mahesh Mangaonkar were just too strong for opponents Kunwarpal Singh and Nitin Chauhan, wining 15-7, 15-9 to take home the winner's purse of Rs 10,000.

Earlier, in the semi-finals, the champions had to overcome a tough challenge from Jindal Squash Academy's young pairing of Laxman Joshi and Arun Sharma, the match going the distance before ending 15-13, 13-15, 15-13 in the favor of Jangra and Mangaonkar.

In the Doubles Handicap event, Samir Mistry and Mukesh Desai got the better of professionals Sanjay Pawar and Virendra Pawar 15-10, 15-10.

Final

Doubles Top 8 : Vikas Jangra & Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Kunwarpal Singh & Nitin Chauhan 15-7, 15-9
Doubles Handicap : Samir Mistry & Mukesh Desai bt Sanjay Pawar & Virendra Pawar 15-10, 15-10  

Semi Final

Doubles Top 8 :
Vikas Jangra & Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Laxman Joshi & Arun Sharma 15-13, 13-15, 15-13
Kunwarpal Singh & Nitin Chauhan bt Vijay Waghela & Rohan Gracias 15-7, 15-12

Doubles Handicap :
Samir Mistry & Mukesh Desai bt Madhav Dingra & Anshul Goyal 15-12, 10-15, 15-13
Sanjay Pawar & Virendra Pawar bt Anil Mohite & Amit Koli 15-13, 15-12

Quarter Final

Doubles Top 8 :
Vikas Jangra & Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Harjinder Singh & Siddharth Samantray 15-9, 15-10
Laxman Joshi & Arun Sharma bt Mohammed H. Merchant & Tushar Bambhani 15-6, 9-15, 15-8
Vijay Waghela & Rohan Gracias bt Sanjay Goyal & Ashish Gupta 15-4, 15-8
Kunwarpal Singh & Nitin Chauhan bt Cyrus Vakil & Aloke Mathur 15-8, 17-16

Doubles Handicap :
Samir Mistry & Mukesh Desai bt Sonu Merani & Shashi Gupta 11-15, 15-9, 15-12
Madhav Dingra & Anshul Goyal bt Rajesh Rajani & Vinod Rijhwani  15-9, 10-5, 15-5
Sanjay Pawar & Virendra Pawar bt Shilpan Patel & Vivek Khanna 15-11, 15-11
Anil Mohite & Amit Koli bt Aashish Bhagra & Sachin Goyal 17-16, 15-14

90th Tournament Organised by ISP