Yash Fadte defeated Chaitanya Shah in four games to clinch the 3rd Indian Classic Junior Open squash tournament title on Thursday.
Yash, 16, an exciting young talent from Goa, got the better of Chaitanya of Mumbai 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5 at the Bombay Gymkhana glass-back squash court.
After shocking the top seed, Tushar Shahani, in an epic four-game thriller in the semi-final, Chaitanya was favoured to win the final. But Yash, who also won a tough semi-final against second seed Rahul Baitha, did well to win the title.
Yash won the opening game 11-8 and had it even easier in the second as he wrapped up the game at 11-6. Chaitanya, however, bounced back when he won the third game at 11-9 but Yash won the next 11-5.
“I have been playing Chaitanya in finals since I was 10 and have a long history with him. He has always been a worthy opponent and with the kind of form he has shown by beating the top seed Tushar, I knew I had a big task ahead of me. I kept things simple and made Chaitanya work around the court tiring him which made things easier for me.”
In the girls’ U-19 final, Sanya Vats defeated top-seed Amita Gondi 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-2 to clinch the title. In the semi-finals earlier, Sanya had defeated a higher-ranked Namvi Sharma 11-6, 11-6, 11-6, while top seed Amita Gondi beat the unseeded Jannia Singh 11-9,11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 12-10 in a closely contested match.
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