Jamal Sakib of Services, seeded 5/8, scored a minor upset over his Services opponent Vaibhav Chauhan (3/4) to enter the men’s semi-finals of the 6th Cello NSCI Open National Circuit squash tournament, hosted by NSCI at their glass backed squash courts, here, on Monday. The tournament is co-sponsored by Rubicon Consumer Healthcare and Hbits.
With both players familiar with each other’s playing styles, fortunes changed hands with each game but a visibly tired Chauhan could not put up much of a fight in the decider, going down tamely. Sakib prevailed 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-5 to set up a last four clash with 2nd seed Suraj Chand of Delhi, who got the better of TN’s Vikas Mehra (58) 13-11, 11-1, 7-11, 6-1 (Retd). The other semis will be an all Maharashtra affair, pitting top seed Rahul Baitha against Veer Chotrani (3/4) while Baitha defeated Shaan Dalal 13-11, 11-7, 11-6, Chotrani scored an easy 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 win over Sharan Punjabi.
Women’s matches also went according to form, with the top two seeds, Urwashi Joshi (Mah) and Anahat Singh (Delhi) booking their spots in the semis. Urwashi brushed aside Nirupama Dubey 11-2, 11-5, 11-9, while Anahat routed Bijali Darvada 11-0, 11-1, 11-1.
Yashi Jain, the Girls U-17 second seed from Rajasthan was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Maharashtra’s Rudra Singh (5/8), losing 6-11, 11-5, 11-13, 5-11.
Aditya Chandani the Boys Under-17 top seed was also run close in the quarter-finals, before rallying to win the decider and match 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-4 against unseeded Vedant Chheda.
Results:
Men’s (Quarters Finals): Rahul Baitha (1) (MH) bt Shaan Dalal (MH) 13-11, 11-7, 11-5; Veer Chotrani (3/4) (MH) bt Sharan Punjabi (MH) 11-5, 11-3, 11-6; Jamal Sakib (5/8) (Services) bt Vaibhav Chauhan (3/4) (Services) 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-5; Suraj Chand (2) (MH) bt Vikas Mehra (5/8) (TN) 13-11, 11-1, 7-11, 6-1, Ret..
Women’s (Quarters Finals): Urwashi Joshi (1) (MH) bt Nirupama Dubey (MH) 11-2, 11-5, 11-9; Sunita Patel (3/4) (MH) bt Anjali Semwal (5/8) (MH) 12-10, 11-7, 14-12; Janet Vidhi (3/4) (MH) bt Mehak Gupta (MH) 11-1, 11-5, 11-3; Anahat Singh (2) (DL) bt Bijali Darvada (5/8) (MH) 11-0, 11-1, 11-1.
Boy’s U19 (Quarters-Finals): Tavneet Singh Mundra (9/16) (MP) bt Naresh Shingva (MH) bt 11-5, 11-7, 11-4; Bhagwan Das (MH) bt Hunarpal Kohli (5/8) (MH) 11-3, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8; Adhish Kancharla (9/16) (MH) bt Tanish Vaidya (MH) 11-4, 11-7, 11-7; Yuvraj Wadhwani (2) (MH) bt Krish Dembla (9/16) (MH) 11-3, 11-3, 11-2.
Boys U17 (Quarters Finals): Aditya Chandani (1) (MH) bt Vedant Chheda (MH) 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-4; Priyaan Thakker (5/8) (MH) bt Ayush Verma (MH) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5; Arjun Somani (3/4) (MH) bt Dev Sharma (MH) 6-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10; Aryaveer Dewan (2) (DL) bt Raj Yadav (5/8) (UP) 11-7, 11-5, 4-11, 11-7.
Boy’s U15 (Quarters Finals): Mihir Bopana (TN) bt Siddharth Narang (MH) 11-3, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7; Saharsh Shahra (MP) bt Kamlesh Dama Dore (5/8) (MH) 11-1, 11-4, 11-9; Purav Rambhia (3/4) (MH) bt Arjun Morey (MH) 11-2, 11-1, 7-11, 7-11, 11-6; Ishaan Dabke (2) (MH) bt Aatik Yadav (5/8) (MH) 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9.
Boy’s U13 (Quarters Finals): Aryaman Singh (1) (KA) bt Vivaan Khanna (MH) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6; Yusuf Pardiwala (MH) bt Vinay Shinde (MH) 11-7, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7; Shreyansh Jha (3/4) (MH) bt Atharv Vasishta (KA) 11-3, 13-11, 11-6; Dhruv Bopana (2) (TN) bt Siddharth Chaudhari (MH) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5.
Boy’s U11 (Quarters Finals): Prabhav Bajoria (1) (RJ) bt Dhruv Dubey (MH) 5-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4; Krishiv Mittal (MH) bt Ayaan Arambhan (5/8) (MH) 14-16, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7; Aaditya Shah (3/4) (MH) bt Tilakvir Kapoor (MH) 11-4, 11-1, 11-5; Parshuram Lachaka (5/8) (MH) bt Viaan Khemani (HR) 11-6, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9.
Girl’s U17 (Quarters Finals): Navya Sundararajan (1) (UP) bt Durga Hiru Paradhi (MH) 11-1, 11-3, 11-3; Sanvi Batar (DL) bt Jiya Chotrani (MH) 11-4, 11-1, 7-11, 11-5; Akanksha Gupta (3/4) (MH) bt Aryaa Dwivedi (KA) 11-4, 14-12, 11-8; Rudra Singh (5/8) (MH) bt Yashi Jain (2) (RJ) 11-6, 5-11, 13-11, 11-5;
Girl’s U15 (Quarters Finals): Diva Shah (1) (MH) bt Prithika Deb (MH) 11-6, 11-4, 11-4; Kriya Saravanan (5/8) (TN) bt Saanvi Shree (TS) 7-11, 11-1, 13-11, 11-1; Aarika Mishra (3/4) (MH) bt Ishika Anand (DL) 11-2, 11-5, 11-3; Aelina Shah (2) (MH) bt Riyansika Verma (5/8) (KA) 11-4, 11-7, 11-5.
Girl’s U13 (Quarters Finals): Soniya Waghamare (MH) bt Eva Gupta (MH) 11-3, 11-5, 11-9; Vasundhara Nangare (9/16) (MH) bt Aashi Shah (3/4) (MH) 11-3, 11-6, 11-4; Arnaa Dwivedi (5/8) (TS) bt Deepshika Thorat (3/4) (KA) 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7; Aroma(2) (UP) bt Raayisha Naik (5/8) (MH) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4.
Girl’s U11 (Quarters Finals): Sudhanjali Yadav (1) (MH) bt Ruhi Lodha (MH) 11-5, 11-4, 11-1; Shanaya Parasrampuria (9/16) (MH) bt Jerusha Jebindran (TN) 11-9, 11-3, 13-11; Gargi Kadam (3/4) (MH) bt Aeva Parekh (MH) 11-5, 11-9, 11-3; Shanaya Roy (MH) bt Riyaa Dalal (5/8) (MH) 11-2, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8.