Date:19/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/19/stories/2007111961342300.htm

Sport

Ritwik, Joshna win titles

MUMBAI: India men’s No. 2 Ritwik Bhattacharya and National women’s No. 1 Joshna Chinappa retained their titles with ease by overwhelming their rivals in the finals of the 64th CCI Western India squash championship here on Sunday.

Ritwik eased past second seed Sandeep 9-7, 9-1, 9-2 in just 26 minutes to clinch the top prize of Rs. 1 lakh.

Meanwhile, Joshna was equally merciless as she outclassed Mandy Kennedy, the Mumbai-based former England junior player, for the second time in as many months with a 9-5, 9-5, 9-2 win in 35 minutes to pocket Rs. 30,000.

Joshna had beaten Mandy in the HSBC Maharashtra State Open at the Bombay Gymkhana earlier in the season.

Earlier, top seed Saumya Karki enhanced her stature among the juniors by winning the girls’ under-19 and 15 titles.

The 14-year-old controlled the flow of play against unseeded Urvashi Joshi in the senior girls’ final, winning 9-1, 9-2, 9-0.

Saumya put in a little more effort before being able to overcome fourth seed Namrata Purohit 9-5, 9-1, 9-3 in the junior girls’ event.

Top seed Arun Kochhar won a hard-earned title in boys u-13 final, second seed Raghav Mehrotra staging a rousing comeback to take the thrilling tie into the decider.

The former, taking time to get back his breath, took an early lead in the fifth for a 9-5, 9-5, 4-9, 5-9, 9-4 victory.

The results (all finals):

Men: Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Sandeep 9-7, 9-1, 9-2.Boys U-17: Aditya Jagtap bt Abhishek Pradhan 9-2, 9-7, 9-4; U-15: Abhishek Pradhan bt Mahesh Mangaonkar 9-4, 9-2, 9-4; U-13: Arjun Kochhar bt Raghav Mehrotra 9-5, 9-5, 4-9, 5-9, 9-4; U-11: Yohan Pandole bt Sandeep Paswan 9-3, 9-0, 9-3.

Women: Joshna Chinappa bt Mandy Kennedy 9-5, 9-5, 9-2.

Girls: U-19: Saumya Karki bt Urvashi Joshi 9-1, 9-2, 9-0; U-15: Saumya Karki bt Namrata Purohit 9-5, 9-1, 9-3; U-9: Ben Kennedy bt Ivan Phillip 9-2, 8-10, 9-3, 9-5.

Professionals: C. Gomez bt Rohit More 9-6, 4-9, 9-5, 9-5.

Above-55: Kishan Lal bt Raj Manchanda 9-2, 4-9, 9-2, 9-3.