Mumbai’s Abhishek Pradhan, seeded in the 5-8 bracket, shocked top seed Robert Downer of England in the men’s quarter-finals of the 42nd Maharashtra State Open Squash tournament, being organised by the Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai on Saturday, PTI reported

The 24-year-old Pradhan matched the power-based play of Downer (world rank 207) and engaged the 25-year-old Englishman in long rallies in the five-game affair before making it to the last four.

Pradhan, who lost to eventual champion Sourav Ghosal in the quarter-finals of the nationals recently, completed a deserving 11-5, 11-13, 11-1, 10-12, 11-4 win to advance to the semi-finals.

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Second seed Aditya Jagtap of Maharashtra, however, had things well in his control as he took his appointed place in the semi-finals. The 25-year-old eased past his young Goan opponent Yash Fadte in straight games at 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 in another quarter final.

On the other hand, seasoned Services player Sandeep Jangra, the joint 3-4 seed, was packed off by Maharashtra’s Abhishek Agarwal in four games. Agarwal fought back well after dropping the first game to snatch a 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 win and enter the last four.

Delhi’s Gaurav Nandrajog, the joint 3-4 seed completed the semi-final line-up. Nandrajog, after encountering initial resistance from Telengana’s Ashray Ohri, found his groove in the game and cantered to a 12-10, 11-1, 11-6 win.

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The top two seeds in the women’s competition – Sachika Ingale of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra’s Urvashi Joshi – also marched into the semi-finals without facing significant resistance.

Top seed Sachika powered her way past Amruta Swami of Maharashtra, recording a convincing 11-0, 11-1, 11-2 win, while Urvashi defeated state rival Pranjali Sharma 11-6, 11-8, 11-4.

Udit and Kunal post narrow wins in Juniors

Wong King Yeung of Hong Kong enjoyed a successful opening round as he easily defeated India’s Pintoo Rai 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 to progress to the second round of the Indian Junior Open Squash tournament.

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In two interesting all-Indian encounters, Udit Sharma and Kunal Singh posted hard-fought to win their respective first round matches. Sharma overcame Priyansh Kedia 11-5, 11-1, 9-11, 12-14, 11-5.

Singh, despite losing the opening game, managed to prevail over Maanav Mandhian by a 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5 scoreline.

Brief scores:

  • Men’s quarter-finals: 2-Aditya Jagtap beat Yash Fadte 11-7, 11-5, 11-2; 3/4-Gaurav Nandrajog beat Ashray Ohri 12-10, 11-1, 11-6; Abhishek Agarwal beat 3/4 Sandeep Jangra 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8; Abhishek Pradhan beat Robert Downer 11-5, 11-13, 11-1, 10-12, 11-4.
  • Boys under-19:  Wong King Yeung (Hong Kong) beat Pintoo Rai (India) 11-4 11-7 11-3; Akash Banodha (India) beat Niraj Kabra (India)  11-6 11-6 11-3; Mridul Rawat  (India) beat Kshitiz Sehgal (India)  11-9 11-7 11-8; Udit Sharma (India) beat Priyansh Kedia (India) 11-5 11-1 9-11 12-14 11-5; Akash Ashokumar (India) bt Sachin Shinde  (India) 11-7 6-11 11-4 11-5; Kunal Singh (India) beat Maanav Mandhian 10-12 11-4 11-9 12-14 11-5.