Top junior Vikram Malhotra of Maharashtra was the cynosure of all eyes when he extended top seed Ritwik Bhattacharya of Delhi in an exciting men's pre-quarter-final, in the 53rd Senior National and 30th Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra State Open Squash Championships 2005, at the Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Malhotra, the national under-17 runner-up, revealed the reasons for last week's title-winning performance in the CCI-Western India Open when he snatched a tight opening game and surprised Bhattacharya, ranked No. 59 in the world. Using the occasion as a learning process against his much accomplished opponent, Malhotra tried to stay in the match and impressed in a close third game with a couple of brilliant nicks and boasts that drew applause.
But Bhattacharya showed how he could be Malhotra's friend off court and a fierce competitor on it when he ignored the early deficit and warmed up to a 7-9, 9-1, 9-7, 9-1 win to advance to the last eight.
Joining Bhattacharya in the quarter-finals were second seed Saurav Ghosal of Tamil Nadu and No. 3 seed Gaurav Nandrajog of Delhi who registered straight-game wins.
Shikhar Soni hogged the limelight in the Maharashtra State Open when he overcame Harsh Kapadia 9-4, 10-9, 7-9, 10-9 in an absorbing boys' under-11 third round clash. In a contest between quality players, Kapadia also impressed with a determined challenge and forced Soni to work hard for every point.
CCI-Western India Open under-9 champion Kunj Rawani and Ishaan Advani enjoyed a rewarding day when they moved up in two categories following impressive wins.
RESULTS:
Sr. Nat.: Men: (Pre Quarter-finals): Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) bt Manek Mathur (Mah) 9-1, 9-5, 10-8; Ritwik Bhattacharya (Del) bt Vikram Malhotra (Mah) 7-9, 9-1, 9-7, 9-1; Dhiraj Singh (Raj) bt Amjad Khan (Del) 9-7, 9-1, 9-1; Supreet Singh (Mah) bt Shakti Singh (SSCB) 9-0, 9-2, 9-1; Vikas Jangra (SSCB) bt Naresh Kumar (Del) 9-0, 9-1, 9-3; Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Parth Sharma (TN) 9-1, 9-4, 9-0..
(3rd Round): Ritwik Bhattacharya (Del) bt Fateh Singh (MP) 9-2, 9-2, 9-0; Amjad Khan (Del) bt D. Sisodia (SSCB) 9-5, 9-8, 9-2; Dhiraj Singh (RajJ) bt N. Datta (SSB) 9-0, 9-0, 9-5; Supreet Singh (Mah) bt Vijay Shankar Dube (UP) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1; Shakti Singh (SSCB) bt Nakul Lodha (Raj) 9-0, 9-3, 9-6; Manek Mathur (Mah) bt Gautam Sharma (Raj) 9-3, 9-6, 9-1; Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) bt Prashant Mehta (Mah) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1; Naresh Kumar (Del) bt Naishadh Lalwani (Mah) 9-0, 9-4, 9-5; Rishad Pandole (Mah) bt Rohan Gracias (Mah) 9-4, 9-3, 9-6; Harinderpal Singh (TN) bt Varun Prakash (Del) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0; A. Parthiban (TN) bt Dhiraj Nagpal (Mah) 8-10, 9-2, 9-1, 9-3; Bikram Uberoi (Mah) bt Harjinder Singh (Mah) 9-2, 9-3, 9-1; Parth Sharma (TN) bt Dhruv Dhawan (Del) 9-5, 4-9, 9-1, 10-9; Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Abhilakshaya (Chd) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.
Women (1st Round): Harita Omprakash (TN) bt Shahnaz Dastur (Mah) 9-0, 9-6, 9-1.
Mah. State Open - Boys U-19 (2nd Round): Fateh Singh (Mah) bt Jay Bhagat 9-4, 9-2, 9-4; Cyrus Vakil bt Shaantanu Shankar 9-2, 9-3, 9-1; Naresh Kumar (Del) bt Karun Kumar 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Manek Mathur bt Jay Dalal 9-4, 9-0, 9-6; Joran Diwan bt Shanker Menon 9-0, 9-0, 9-2; A. Parthiban (TN) bt Prateek Chalia (Del) 9-1, 9-6, 9-6.
Boys U-13 (3rd Round): Abhishek Pradhan bt Adesh Bhansali 9-5, 9-1, 9-2; Caran Arora bt Armaan Shaikh 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Arjun Kochhar bt Yash Bhansali 9-1, 9-2, 9-3; Aakash Borwankar bt Neville Tata 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Rohan A. Vora bt Kunal Khaladkar 10-8, 9-7, 9-4; Ness Billimoria bt Prithvi Sinha 9-3, 9-0, 9-0; Ishaan Advani bt Ajan Jayant 9-0, 9-5, 9-4.
Boys U-11 (3rd Round): Ishaan Advani bt Aditya Khatri 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Mishaal Suhail Nathani bt Sumer Aggarwal 9-4, 9-5, 9-3; Yash Bhansali bt Prithvi Sinha 9-5, 9-0, 9-5; Raghav Mehrotra bt Rohaan Advani 9-0, 9-1, 9-0; Aviroop Ghosal bt Yohan Pandole 9-0, 9-5, 9-5; Shikhar Soni bt Harsh Kapadia 9-4, 10-9, 7-9, 10-9; Kunj Rawani bt Gautam Suresh 9-1, 9-0, 9-1; Arjun Kochhar bt Amal Hosangady 9-0, 9-3, 9-0.
U-9 (2nd Round): Kunj Rawani bt Joshua Anant Narde 9-2, 9-0, 9-0; Rajat Agarwal bt Esha Mody 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Arman Kothari bt Rohaan Advani 9-3, 9-1, 9-6; Yohan Pandole (Mah) bt Ishaan Mehra 9-0, 9-2, 9-0; Aditya Khatri bt Anirudh Agrawal 9-1, 9-0, 9-1.
Girls U-15 (1st Round): Saumya Karki bt Anoushka Patel 9-5, 9-4, 9-3; Shria Khatri bt Sanjna Merchant 9-3, 9-4, 9-3; Ankita Sharma (Mah) bt Shyamli Patel 9-4, 9-1, 9-2; Anissa Malhotra bt Devina Vaid 9-6, 9-0, 9-0; Tanvi Kanakia bt Atesha Khandelwal 9-4, 9-0, 9-5.
Girls U-13 (1st Round): Aishwarya Kulkarni bt Divya Sunil Desadla 9-1, 9-1, 9-0; Lakshaya Raghavan (TN) bt Nandini Agarwal (Goa) 9-4, 9-2, 9-1; Shria Khatri bt Atesha Khandelwal 9-1, 9-1, 9-0; Sanjana Merchant bt Bahar Dhawan 9-3, 9-7, 9-2; Ankita Sharma bt Devina Vaid 9-1, 9-0, 9-0.