All-India jr squash open: Akanksha, Rachit lift titles with upset wins

Mumbai, Jan 29 (IANS) Maharashtra's Akanksha Gupta and Rachit Shah continued their fine seed-bashing form to crown themselves with glory, winning the Girls' U-17 and Boys' U-15 titles, respectively, in the K.H. Rambhia Memorial Juhu Gymkhana All-India Junior Squash Open, an SRFI 3-Star event, played at the glass-backed courts of the JVPG Club.

The unseeded Akanksha accounted for Karin Phipps (Mah 3/4) in the title round, winning 7-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-2, 11-4, while Rachit, who had knocked out the top seed in the semis, trained his guns on the second seed, Anshuman Jaising (Man), winning the title match 2-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8.

The trend of upset wins continued in the other final matches as well, with second seed Anika Dubey (Mah) defeating top seed Vyomika Khandelwal (TN) for the Girls' U-15 title and Harshal Rana and Saanvi Kalanki, both seeded second, defeating the top seed for the Boys' and Girls' U-13 titles respectively.

Om Semwal and Aditya Chandani, the top seeds in the Boys' U-19 and U-17 categories, lived up to their billing, winning the titles with straight game wins over Saran Punjabi and Arjun Somani respectively.

Results (finals):

Boys' U-19: Om Semwal (MH) (1) bt Sharan Punjabi (MH) (2) 11-9, 11-8, 11-5.

Boys' U-17: Aditya Chandani (MH) (1) Arjun Somani (MH) (3/4) 11-6, 11-4, 11-8.

Girls' U-17: Akanksha Gupta (MH) bt Karina Phipps (MH) (3/4) 7-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-2, 11-4.

Boys' U-=15: Rachit Shah (MH) (5/8) bt Anshuman Jaising (MH) (2) 3-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8.

Girls' U-15: Anika Dubey (MH) (2) bt Vyomika Khandelwal (TN) (1) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8.

Boys' U-13: Harshal Rana (HR) (2) bt Rudra Pathania (CH) (1) 5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-3.

Girls' U-13: Saanvi Kalanki (MP) (2) bt Aroma (UP) (1) 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Boys' U-11: Sahil Waghamare (MH) (1) bt Prabhav Bajoria (RJ) (2) 11-5, 11-4, 11-6.

Girls' U-11: Aashi Shah (MH) (1) bt Sudhanjali Yadav (MH) (3/4) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8.