Nathani upsets fourth seed Mihir

MUMBAI, AUG 17: Junaid Nathani hogged the limelight in the quarter-finals of the Rs 85,000 Otters Club all-India Open squash tournament a...

MUMBAI, AUG 17: Junaid Nathani hogged the limelight in the quarter-finals of the Rs 85,000 Otters Club all-India Open squash tournament at the Club8217;s premises, here, today. Nathani, unseeded among the under-19, upset fourth seed Mihir Kapoor in four games and then lived up to his top billing in the under-17 age group by defeating Sahil Vora in straight games at 9-2, 9-8, 9-5.

Also ending on the losing side was Mihir8217;s younger brother Vishal Kapoor, seeded second in the boys under-17. Vishal was upset by the unseeded Siddharth Suchde in straight games.

Rohan Juneja and Bikram Uberoi, the No. 1 and 2 seeds in the under-19 made the last four stage without much ado. While Uberoi disposed off Aftab Mathur 9-1, 9-0, 9-2, Juneja appeared disinterested as he dropped the first game to Delhi8217;s Neerav Tomar, before getting his act together to win 2-9, 9-0, 9-0, 9-5.

The under-19 semi-finals pits Uberoi versus the third seed Parth Doshi, while Juneja will take on Junaid Nathani. In the under-17 category, SiddharthSuchde will take on Auloke Mathur, while Neerav Tomar will meet Junaid Nathani.

Calcutta8217;s Saurav Ghoshal continued his fine run in this tournament, upsetting the progress of third seed Sahil Vora in the under-15 category. Ghoshal, who just turned 13 on August 10, recovered after dropping the first two games to prevail in five games at 5-9, 7-9, 9-2, 9-4, 9-1. The hard-fought second game took its toll on Sahil, and he just couldn8217;t get his feet moving in the following games.

However, Ghoshal too paid the price for the tough match, losing later in straight games his under-17 match to Auloke Mathur at 9-0, 9-3, 9-6.

In the girls section, under-19 top seed Deepali Anvekar and under-15 top seed Joshna Chinnappa will finally see action on Wednesday, seeded directly into the semi-finals. Deepali takes on Rhea Bhandare, while Joshna meets Supriya Balsekar. In the under-15 Joshna meets Natasha Lall, while Mashruwala meets Supriya Balsekar.

RESULTS SEEDINGS IN PREFIX

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BOYS under-19: 1-Rohan Juneja btNeerav Tomar 2-9, 9-0, 9-1, 9-5; 2-Bikram Uberoi bt Aftab Mathur 9-1, 9-0, 9-2; Junaid Nathani bt 4-Mihir Kapoor 2-9, 9-7, 9-2, 9-5. Under-17: 4-Neerav Tomar bt 5-Mihir Sheth 9-7, 9-0, 5-9, 9-6; Siddharth Suchde bt 2-Vishal Kapoor 9-5, 9-6, 9-2; Auloke Mathur bt Saurav Ghoshal 9-0, 9-3, 9-6; Sahil Vora bt 1-Junaid Nathani 9-2, 9-8, 9-5. Under-15: 1-Mihir Sheth bt Rishabh Sanghvi 9-7, 9-0, 9-6; Saurav Ghoshal bt 3-Sahil Vora 5-9, 7-9, 9-2, 9-4, 9-1; 4-Gaurav Nadarjog bt Karan Pal Sethi 9-4, 9-0, 10-9. Under-13: 1-Gautam Kalani bt Manek Mathur 9-1, 9-0, 9-6; 3-Rishabh Vora bt Harshjit Sethi 9-3, 9-5, 9-7; Sandeep Jhangra bt Jay Bhagat 9-1, 9-1, 9-2; 4-Nikhil Seth bt Naishad Lalwani 9-1, 9-3, 9-5. Under-11: 3-Jay Bhagat bt Vir Seth 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Harsjit Sethi bt Vikram Malhotra 9-7, 9-7, 10-8; Sandeep Jhangra bt 2-Naishad Lalwani 9-7, 9-7, 9-1; 1-Alisha Mashruwala bt Varun Dattani 9-1, 9-0.

GIRLS under-19: 4-Rhea Bhandare bt Rachita Vora 9-4, 9-1, 9-2; 3-Supriya Balsekar bt Priyanka Yadav 8-10, 9-4, 4-9,10-8, 9-1. Under-15: 3-Alisha Mashruwala bt Liana Deboo 9-3, 9-1, 9-0; Natasha Lall bt 4-Shyla Pandole.