Bhattacharya reigns supreme

MUMBAI, NOV 14: Top seed Ritwik Bhattacharya won the men's open singles title of the 55th Credit Agricole Indosuez CCI Western India squash ...

MUMBAI, NOV 14: Top seed Ritwik Bhattacharya won the men’s open singles title of the 55th Credit Agricole Indosuez CCI Western India squash tournament at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) courts this evening.

The Delhi ace pocketed a much deserved winner’s cheque of Rs 22,000 after relegating Mumbai’s Manish Chotrani, seeded third, to the runner-up spot after a 9-7, 9-2, 4-9, 9-5 battle which lasted over an hour.

Other title winners today included Anshul Manchanda (boys’ under-19), Junaid Nathani (boys’ under-16), Vaman Apte (over-35), Rehmat Khan (over-45) and Santosh More (professionals).

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After one-sided semi-finals yesterday, much was expected from the men’s summit clash today and the packed stands said it all.

Right from the word go, the match was a tense affair, interspersed with long rallies, crisp smashes and protests by both players, questioning the referee’s decisions.

The first set was a see-saw battle but Bhattacharya managed to take the game 9-7 with Chotrani making mistakes towards theend. The second game was a comparatively easy one for the National champion for a thumping 9-2 scoreline.

The third game saw reversal of fortunes, much to the delight of the crowd which had come out in full support of their local hero.

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Trailing 1-5 at one point, Chotrani managed to level scores at 6-all. Probably a pep talk from coach Cyrus Poncha after the second game helped as he managed to pull-off a close 9-7 win.

With the game margin decreased, both player started the fourth with renewed vigour with the increasing crowd support and a punctured ball only adding to the tension.

It looked like a re-run of the third game as Bhattacharya again took a 5-1 lead and Chotrani crawled his way back. But with scores levelled at 5-all, the similarity ended as Bhattacharya justified his top billing to romp home 9-5.

Earlier, in the women’s section, Nashik’s Mekhala Subedar, top seed here, had an easy and unexpected march to title as Deepali Anvekar conceded the final. Mekhala lead the match 9-0, 9-4 whenDeepali pulled out.

Results

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Men’s Open: 1-Ritwik Bhattacharya (Delhi) bt 3-Manish Chotrani (Mum) 9-7, 9-2, 7-9, 9-5.

Boys’ under-19: Anshul Manchanda bt Abhimanyu Jain (Jodhpur) 9-3, 6-9, 9-0, 9-7.

Under-16: 1-Junaid Nathani (Mum) bt Siddharth Suchde (Mum) 9-2, 9-5, 9-7.

Over-35: 1-Vaman Apte (Mum) bt Anant More (Mum) 9-5, 9-4, 9-1.

Over-45: Rehmat Khan bt Jayant Bakshi 9-0, 9-1, 9-2.

Professionals: 1-Santosh More bt Chandrakant Pawar 9-1, 9-5, 9-6