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  Sports   In Other sports  19 Jul 2017  City’s junior squash players shine abroad

City’s junior squash players shine abroad

THE ASIAN AGE.
Published : Jul 19, 2017, 12:10 am IST
Updated : Jul 19, 2017, 12:10 am IST

Four Mumbaikars are set to be part of the World Juniors (U-19), scheduled to be held in New Zealand this month.

Dabke won hearts in the U-15 Dutch Open, after sailing past Sofia Arseniev of the US, in the opening round.
 Dabke won hearts in the U-15 Dutch Open, after sailing past Sofia Arseniev of the US, in the opening round.

Mumbai’s junior squash players are making significant strides ahead of the World Juniors, scheduled in Chennai next year. Mumbai’s Neel Joshi and Ananya Dabke bagged the under-15 boys and girl’s titles respectively in the Dutch Open Junior Squash Championship, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Joshi also won the prestigious Cologne Cup in Under-15 category in Germany last week.

Four Mumbaikars, Aryaman Adik, Tushar Shahani, Veer Chotrani and Aishwaraya Bhattacharya, will play in the World Juniors (U-19) to be held in New Zealand from July 19 to 29. They are fresh from a two-week training in Egypt, held for the squad, as part of a new initiative by the Squash Rackets Federation of India, to strengthen the skills of the Juniors.

Top seed Joshi, beat 5/8 seed Khalil Alhassan of England, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, in the boys’ final in Amsterdam this weekend. Dabke, seeded down the order at 9/12, turned giant-killer with an exciting 11-7, 11-4, 12-10 win over second seed Serena Daniel of the US, in the girls’ championship round.

Joshi, who earned a first-round bye, warmed up with straight set wins over Belgium’s Bjarne Schaillee, Yaseen Elsebaie of Egypt and compatriot Shreeman Raghavan. In the semi-finals that featured three Indians, he beat compatriot Arnaav Sareen 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 in a thriller, after trailing 1-2, and finally overcame Alhassan, who prevented an Indian clean sweep with a 11-9, 11-9, 12-10 win over Kanhav Nanavati, in the other semi-final.

Dabke won hearts in the U-15 Dutch Open, after sailing past Sofia Arseniev of the US, in the opening round. Consequently, in a spectacular giant-killing run, the Indian went on to scalp 5/8 seed Franka Vidovic of Croatia, 11-2, 11-4, 11-6, in the pre-quarter-finals, 3/4 seed Maia Pannell of England, 11-5, 11-1, 11-7 in the quarter-finals and top seed Chukwu Chinyere of Hungary, 11-5, 12-14, 11-7, 11-8 in the semi-finals.

Two other Indians performed well, to reach the girls under-15 quarter-finals, where another Mumbai lass Aishwarya Khubchandani, fell to England’s Torrie Malik, in straight sets, while Yoshna Singh went down to Daniel, 14-12, 11-9, 12-14, 11-13, 4-11, in a gripping contest.

Last week, skilled youngster Joshi, showed sensational touch in the U-15 category, by winning the title in this prestigious event in Germany. He defeated the top seed Marek Panacek of the Czech Republic, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3. In a draw of 128, Joshi, placed in the bottom half, was seeded 33/64.

Performances from the Mumbai Squash Junior players are significant, considering the sport is to be showcased at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October 2018. Squash is yet to make it into the Olympics, as the sport just slipped out of contention for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Kiwi Calling
Meanwhile, the ten-member squad, comprising Abhay Singh, Aditya Raghavan, Aryaman, Tushar, Veer, Yash Fadte (all boys) and Akanksha Salunkhe, Sunayna Kuruvilla, Aishwarya, Ashita Pranaya Bhengra (all girls), are now ready for the World Juniors, to be held in the city of Tauranga, New Zealand, from July 19 to 29.

The championship will witness individual competitions for boys and girls. Subsequently, the team championship for girls only, will see four girls play in the team event. Additionally, two more girls, Samita Sivakumar and Sanya Vats, join the squad, to play in the individual competitions.

Tushar, Veer and Yash, who are all still U-17 players, and have age on their side, will play in the next World Juniors in Chennai, next year. They will be enriched by the New Zealand experience to add strength to India's chances in Chennai. So far, India’s best in the championship, has been a third place finish by the girls, in 2009, in Chennai.

Dutch Open results
Boys U-15: Final:  Neel Joshi bt Khalil Alhassan (Eng) 9-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6. SF: bt Arnaav Sareen (Ind) 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7. QF: bt Shreeman Raghavan (Ind) 11-9, 11-1, 11-3. PQF: bt Yaseen Elsebaie (Egypt) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6. 2nd Rd: bt Bjarne Schaillee (Belgium) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3.

Girls U-15: Final: Ananya Dabke bt Serena Daniel (USA) 11-7, 11-4, 12-10. SF: bt Chukwu Chinyere (Hungary) 11-5, 12-14, 11-7, 11-8. QF: bt Maia Pannell (Eng) 11-5, 11-1, 11-7. PQF: bt Franka Vidovic (Croatia) 11-2, 11-4, 11-6.  1st Rd: bt Sofia Arseniev (USA) 11-3, 11-0, 11-2.

Tags: squash rackets federation of india, u-15 dutch open