NEWS LETTER OF THE INDIAN SQUASH PROFESSIONALS (For Private Circulation Only)
WEBSITE: www.ispsquash.com E-MAIL : squashindia@hotmail.com Vol 6 No.4 Issue No.24 Oct.2002
| DIRECTORS: MAHENDRA AGARWAL / NARENDRA GOUR (I.R.S.) / CHANDRAKANT PAWAR OUR HONORARY MEMBERS: NAVNEET SONI (I.R.S.) / BHARAT BHUSHAN (I.R.S.) / SAIFEE JANI (M.D. JANI SALES LTD.) RAJESH LIHALA (M.D. SHIVA MARKETING LTD.) / RAKESH LAKHANPAL (M.D. S.S. KNITTING IND.) / MUKESH BABU (CHAIRMAN, MUKESHBABU SECURITIES LTD.) HONOURED PATRONS: VIVEK NAIR (VC & MD THE LEELA) / SAJJAN JINDAL (VC & M.D. JINDAL GROUP OF COMPANIES) ADVISOR: P.K. VIJAYAKAR |
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Master Vikram Malhotra being felicitated by Indian Squash Professionals (ISP) & Prosquash at the hands of Mr. Bhushan Gagrani (Dy. Sec. to C.M. Govt. of Maharashtra |
One was genuinely concerned about Vikram Malhotra when he left to play the Hong Kong Open Juniors. He had left a day after a big felicitation at the Mumbai Press Club organised by Indian Squash Professionals. Would he be justify the hype? This was the question one asked. Well, one got the answer in a few days time. Vikram beat opponents ranked above him to win the title and complete a hat-trick of titles in the far-east. Singapore and Malaysian titles were bagged by him earlier. His mom Anita revealed that they had not shown him any media clippings of the felicitation. So his mind was only on the matches. He had to play the son of Jansher Khan from his Malaysian ex-wife. Kamran Khan was ranked above him but Vikram won thriller of a semi-final. Theirs was ding-dong battle and Khan, the second seed, saved a match ball in the fourth before losing 10-9. Service changed hands an agonising seven times at 9-all before Vikram won when Khan put down a lengthOne was genuinely |
Manu Dadlani, President, Deepak Shroff Hon. Gen. Sec. with Vikram at Khar Gymkhana |
His mom Anita revealed that they had not shown him any media clippings of the felicitation. So his mind was only on the matches. He had to play the son of Jansher Khan from his Malaysian ex-wife. Kamran Khan was ranked above him but Vikram won thriller of a semi-final. Theirs was ding-dong battle and Khan, the second seed, saved a match ball in the fourth before losing 10-9. Service changed hands an agonising seven times at 9-all before Vikram won when Khan put down a length shot. Now he had to face Hong Kong's Au Chung Ming. He had not watched him before, so could not have an advance game plan. But he adapted and his superior lasting power made the difference. Ming was blanked 9-0 in the deciding game of the hard fought five setter. Vikram Malhotra got the PROSQUASH Award for International Excellence in Squash with a cash prize of Rs. 51,000 by Mahendra Agarwal, director, Indian Squash Professionals. A week earlier, Vikram was awarded the `Laureus Sports for Good Foundation' scholarship of Rs. 1lakh given to promising Indian junior sportspersons in New Delhi in the presence of Mr. Kapil Dev & Ace Tennis Champion Boris Becker. The eighth-standard lad from Beacon High School, Khar, won the Milo All Star Malaysian Junior Squash Open Championships 2002 in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the Singapore Wilson Junior Squash Championship 2002.
Old-timers seeing him say he is a free-flowing and adventurous player. But he needs to improve his front court game. The Khar Gymkhana lad now has under his belt, the Hong Kong 2000 title, the Junior National title, two Air-India titles,the Little Masters, the Otter's Open, and the West Zone Inter-school, among others.
Nine-times national professionals champion Chandrakant Pawar has honed his skills. Mother Anita being a Reebok fitness instructor has been an added help. ISP has rewarded Vikram giving him free coaching from Pawar for a year and his home club Khar Gymkhana also awarded him with a cheque of Rs. 51,000/-.
THE LEELA ISP SQUASH MASTERS (HANDICAP TEAM EVENT) 14-7-2002
Otters Claim Leela-ISP Title
| Otters Club `B' had a double in local squash when they added the ISP-Leela Handicap to the Motilal Sanghi title they had won earlier in the season.They had an average handicap of eight points per game. It means their opposing players began with 8-points plus every game. Otters were still good enough to overcome Khar Gymkhana `B' to claim the Rs.25,000 prize money. In the match for third place, Otters Club 'A' defeated Khar Gym 'A' 3-2. The winners took home Rs.6,000 with the runners-up settling for Rs. 4,000. There was an exhibition match between two tiny tots-five and a half old Nisarg Gagrani and four and a half year old Harsh Hemnani, which was won by the former. Bhushan Gagrani, deputy secretary to the Chief Minister, and a keen squash player himself gave away the prizes. He lauded the efforts of the Indian Squash Professionals, led by Mahendra Agrawal, who had conducted some 42 tournaments in the last ten years. He hoped teams from downtown would join in and make it more interesting. Results of finals: Otters `B' beat Khar Gymkhana `B' 3-2: Santosh More bt Kishore Vanware 12-15,15-8,15-11; Tushar Bambani bt Girish Jadhwani 15-8,10-15,15-12;Supreet Singh lost to Ashish Gupta 6-15,12-15; Yogin Thakur lost to Shiv Malhotra 9-15,15-10,12-15; Avinash Bhavnani bt Suraj Shetty 15-13,4-15,15-8. 3rd and 4th place: Otters Club `A' beat Khar Gymkhana 'A' 3-2: Vijay Sonawane lost to Amitpal Kohli 10-15,15-12,13-15; Anurag Gill bt Rajesh Rajani 11-15,15-12,15-10;Cyrus Apoo bt Saket Wali 15-14,10-15,17-16;Karan Bhatty lost to Rohan Gracious 15-13, 13-15,14-15; Sanjay Pawar bt Avinash Bhatija 11-15,15-13,15-13. |
The winning Otters "B" team along with the chief guest Mr. Bhushan Gagrani, Mr. Vijay Sethi (RM, The Leela Hotel) Mahendra Agarwal, Aashish Gupta (PRO, SRAM) & Ms. Noreena (ISP) |