Mahesh and Saumya clinch squash titles without dropping a single game
Mahesh and Saumya clinch squash titles without dropping a single game
There was no such thing as competition for these two under-19 boys and girls. For, right from Round One to the final of the Rs 2,69,000 prize money All-India Little Masters Squash Tournament, organised by Willingdon Sports Club, top seeds Saumya Karki (girls) and Mahesh Mangaokar (boys) did not drop a single game.
In fact, Karki and Mangaokar finished their summit clashes in less than half an hour.
While Karki triumphed 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 over Urvashi Joshi, Mangaokar registered an 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 win against Pranay Merchant.u00a0
And even as the duo sounded upbeat after their respective triumphs, both were equally disappointed by the fact that they would have to miss the first of the five preparatory camps for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi because of their Board exams.
"Academics are very important. Also, I have taken permission from the federation and they are okay with it. So now all my focus will be to do well in my exams," Karki told MiD DAY after her win.
Speaking on the final and the tournament in general, Karki said: "This is the fourth title I have won here, so yeah... I love being here. It feels good, I played some aggressive squash and I feel great about it."
Mangaokar's run in the tournament was devastating to say the least.
"I haven't lost a single game in this tournament. I was confident and I feel great," said a beaming Mangaokar.
Mangaokar, who also got a call to attend the preparatory camp, is a firm believer of academics coming first.
But the 15-year-old politely refused to attend the camp and decided to focus on his Board exams instead.
Results:
(All finals):u00a0 Boys U-19: 1-Mahesh Mangaokar bt 2-Pranay Merchant 11-6, 11-6, 11-6.
Boys U-17: 3-Samir Mistry bt 4-Ness Billimoria 13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9.
Boys U-15: 1-Abimanyu Shah bt Madhav Dhingra (MAH) 11-8, 9-11, 15-13, 7-11, 11-5.
Boys U-13: 1-Kunj Rawani bt 3-Velavan Senthilkumar (TN) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8; Boys U-11: Siddhanth Iyer bt 2-Chaitanya Shah 11-9, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9; Boys & Girls U-9: 1-Veer Chotrani bt 2-Tushar Shahani 11-3, 11-9, 11-1.
Girls U-19: 1-Saumya Karki bt Urvashi Joshi 11-9, 11-9, 11-5.
Girls U-15: 1-Urvashi Joshi bt 2-Aishwarya Nambiar 13-15, 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4.
Girls U-13: Aishwarya Bhattacharya bt Aishwarya Nambiar 7-11, 6-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-5.
Girls U-11: 1-Nikita Joshi bt 2-Daksha Pathak 11-4, 11-7, 11-2.
Most Promising Boy: Madhav Dhingra.
Most Promising Girl: Urvashi Joshi.
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