Good performances and upsets marked the second day’s proceedings as the quarterfinals were completed in most of the age categories in the ISA junior Open squash at the ISA courts in Chennai on Thursday.
While the top seeds went through with little to no difficulty, the focus was on the lesser seeds and there were some interesting duels to highlight the growing competition in the junior section. In the U-19 boys section, Utkarsh Baheti of Rajasthan was the cynosure of all eyes as the 5/8 seed battled down the 3/4 seed and the consistent Rutvik Rau of Maharashtra in straight games to indicate the big improvement he had made in recent times.
The fight was in the third game when it seemed Rau would stretch the match but Baheti grabbed it on extra points. In the girls section, local girl Abhisheka Shannon demanded attention for her fine win over Yuvna Gupta of Maharashtra for a semi-final place in the U-15 category. The quarterfinals in the U-11 category and U-13 girls are scheduled for tomorrow.
Results
Boys:
U-17: Sankalp Anand (1) beat Navaneeth Prabhu S (5/8) 11-7, 11-6, 11-7; Yash Fadte (3/4) beat Advait Adik (5/8) 11-1, 11-5, 11-2; Diwakar Singh (3/4) beat Shivamraaj Gulati (17/32) 11-1, 11-1, 11-7; Veer Chotrani (2) beat Kanhav Nanavati (5/8) 11-5, 11-8, 11-6
U-19: Tushar Shahani (1) beat Anuj Unadkat (9/16) 11-4, 11-1, 11-5; Utkarsh Baheti (5/8) beat Rutvik Rau (3/4) 11-5, 11-8, 12-10; Rahul Baitha (3/4) beat Inderjit Singh (5/8) 11-6, 11-5, 11-8; Aryan Parekh (2) beat Vivaan Jaikishan (5/8) 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 .
Girls:
U-17: Sanya Vats (1) beat Krithica J S (5/8) 11-4, 11-2, 11-3; Amira Singh (5/8) beat Jannia Singh (3/4) 11-8, 11-9, 11-8; Samita S (3/4) beat Anannya Morey (5/8) 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9; Ananya Dabke (2) beat Megha Bhatia (5/8) 11-2, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3
U-19: Amita Gondi (1) beat Rebecca Sheila Doss (5/8) 11-2, 11-0, 11-4; Navmi Sharma (3/4) beat Abhilasha Bhasin (5/8) 11-4, 11-3, 11-7; Radhika Rathore (3/4) beat Pranjali Sharma (5/8) 11-7, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7; Aaradhana Kasturiraj (2) beat Tanaya M Parakh (5/8) 11-9, 12-10, 7-11, 11-5.
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