MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 18: National champions Manish Chotrani and Mekhala Subedar proved their superiority beyond doubt, winning the men's and women's titles with relative ease in the Rs 4,50,000 prize money 25th HSBC Maharashtra State Open Squash Championships, which concluded at the glass-backed courts of the Bombay Gymkhana, here, on Saturday.While top seed Chotrani squashed the aspirations of second seed Capt. Navneet Narain, Mekhala exposed the chasm that separates the women from the girls with a 9-6, 9-1, 9-4 victory over Chennai's Joshna Chinappa. Chotrani won Rs 40,000 for his efforts, while Narain took home Rs 20,000. Mekhala's victory was worth Rs 20,000, while Joshna had to settle for Rs 10,000. Joshna picked up another Rs 12,500, defeating Mumbai's Priyanka Yadav 5-9, 9-0, 9-1, 9-5 in the girls under-19 final.Winning a creditable double was Delhi's Gaurav Nandrajog. He first beat the unseeded Abhimanu Jain 6-9, 9-2, 9-7, 9-4 for the under-19 title and then took on Calcutta's Saurav Ghoshal, winning 9-3, 7-9, 10-9, 9-6 for the under-17 crown. Nandrajog won a total of Rs 35,000 for his victories.In the absence of Ritwik Bhattacharya and Deepali Anvekar, there were no real challengers to Chotrani and Mekhala, yet one expected the final to throw up some sort of a challenge. Narain, after his five-game victory over Bikram Uberoi in the semi-finals, should have come across as a tougher opponent, but Chotrani took control of the game from the word go, allowing his opponent just three points in the entire game.Finding his touch early, Chotrani was in total control of his overhead smashes, both forehand and backhand and never allowed Narain to dictate the pace of the game. The 9-0 scoreline in the first game tells its own tale. In the second and third games, Narain managed to engage Chotrani in some long rallies, but he never threatened his supremacy.The boys under-19 final between two Delhi players provided some relief to the squash lovers who had assembled for the finals. Abhimanyu Jain, who had accounted for top seed Vishal Kapoor in the semi-finals, began well against the third seed Gaurav Nandrajog, winning the first game, but lost his way after that and also the match, in four games.Results (All Finals): Boys Under-15: Saurav Ghosal (Cal) bt Ritesh Sharma 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Under-17: Gaurav Nandrajog 9-3, 7-9, 10-9, 9-6; Under-19: Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) bt Abhimanyu Jain (Del) 6-9, 9-2, 9-7, 9-4; Girls Under-19: Joshna Chinappa (Chennai) bt Priyanka Yadav 5-9, 9-0, 9-1, 9-5; Women: Mekhala Subedar (Deolali) bt Joshna Chinappa (Chennai) 9-6, 9-1, 9-4; Open: Manish Chotrani bt Capt. Navneet Narain 9-0, 9-1, 9-1; Over-35: Rohit Thawani bt Vaman Apte 9-1, 9-5, 10-8.
