Cyrus Poncha's squash blog

PSA/WSA Ranking – May 2013

Cyrus Poncha — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:06:52 +0000

Saurav & Dipika maintain their ranking in the top 20, while Harinder move to his best rank #69.

WSA Ranking

15 Dipika Pallikal

26 Joshna Chinappa

85 Anaka Alankamony

117 Aparajitha Balamurukan

PSA Ranking

19 Saurav Ghosal

69 Harinder Pal Sandhu

106 Mahesh Mangaonkar

138 Ravi Dixit

222 Ramit Tandon

377 Kush Kumar

PSA/WSA Ranking – March 2013

Cyrus Poncha — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 07:12:51 +0000

Joshna Chinappa moved up 1 spot to #27 to achieve her best ever WSA ranking. Dipika cements her place at #15 while Saurav celebrates his 2nd month ranked in the top 20.

15 Dipika Pallikal

27 Joshna Chinappa

78 Anaka Alankamony

132 Aparajitha Balamurukan

19 Saurav Ghosal

50 Siddharth Suchde

81 Harinder Pal Sandhu

108 Mahesh Mangaonkar

145 Ravi Dixit

Adhitya wins French Junior Open, Lille (21 –24 Feb 2013)

Cyrus Poncha — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:55:49 +0000

Adhitya Raghavan a trainee of the Indian Squash Academy won his second international junior title when he won the French Junior Open boys under 15 category in Lille, France. His first title was the Iran Junior Open, 2012.

Unseeded, Adhitya beat the local favourite and top seed Jules Cremourx in the finals. In the first round, Adhitya survived a scare from 5/8 seed Richard Hollins and had to fight back from 2 games down. “Defeating all seeded players every round made this victory special” said a delighted Adhitya. I wish to thank all my coaches at the Indian Squash Academy for their continued support proclaimed Adhitya.

The results:

Round 1: Adhitya bt 5/8* Richard Hollins (Sco) 9-11,7-11,11-4, 11-4,11-7

Round 2: Adhitya by 9/12* Christopher Daniel (Wales) – 11-7,11-3,11-5

Quarter final: Adhitya bt 3/4* Joshua Gutenberg (Swi) 11-6,12-10,3-11,11-5

Semi final: Adhitya bt 5/8* Rohan Mandil ( Fra) 11-5,11-1,11-5

Final: Adhitya bt 1*Jules Cremourx (Fra) 13-11, 11-5,14-16, 11-4.

16th ASIAN JUNIOR TEAM C’SHIP, KOREA (20-24 Feb’13)

Cyrus Poncha — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:01:42 +0000

The Indian squash contingent returned with a Gold Medal (Girls team) and a Silver medal (Boys team). This feat has been achieved only for the second time ever. The first time was in 2003.

The Girls Team comprised

Anaka Alankamony
Aparajitha Balamurukan
Harshit Kaur Jawanda
Lakshya Ragavendran

The Boys Team comprised

Mahesh Mangaonkar
Kush Kumar
Madhav Dhingra
Deepak Mishra

Coaches

Subramaniam Singaraveloo
Cyrus Poncha

The girls team won the Gold medal for only the 2^nd time.

The results:

Final: India bt Hong Kong 2-1.

Semi finals: India bt Malaysia 2-1.

Pool matches: India bt Korea 3-0, bt China 3-0 and bt Japan 3-0.

The boys team finished runner up.

The results:

Final: India lost to Pakistan 0-2. India

Semi finals: India bt Hong Kong 2-1

Quarterfinals: India bt Iran 3-0

Pool: India bt Jordan 3-0, bt China 3-0 and bt Korea 3-0.

POSITIONS	BOYS	GIRLS
1	Pakistan	India
2	India	Hong Kong, China
3	Hong Kong, China	Japan
3	Malaysia	Malaysia
5	Kuwait	Kuwait
6	Korea	Korea
7	Iran	Sri Lanka
8	Japan	Chinese Taipei
9	Singapore	China
10	Qatar
11	Jordan
12	Sri Lanka
13	Chinese Taipei
14	Lebanon
15	China

Asian Junior Team Champs, Seoul (20-24 Feb)

Cyrus Poncha — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 02:05:59 +0000

The Indian junior squash team departs tonight for the Asian Junior Team Championships being held in Seoul, Korea.

The India team comprises: Junior Men - Mahesh Mangaonkar, Madhav Dhingra, Deepak Mishra, Kush Kumar. Junior Women – Anaka Alankamony, Aparajitha Balamurukan, Harshit Jawanda & Lakshya Ragvendran. Maj. (R). S. Maniam and Cyrus Poncha will accompany the team.

The Indian girls team has been seeded 1 while the boys team have been seeded 2 (behind Pakistan) in the championship.

Meadowood Pharmacy Open, Canada (29 Jan – 3 Feb’13)

Cyrus Poncha — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 05:38:37 +0000

Dipika Pallikal won her sixth WSA title of her career after outplaying Joey Chan of Hong Kong in straight games in the final of the Meadowood Pharmacy Open a $15,000 event in the Canadian city of Winnipeg. Word number 15 and top seed Pallikal defeated her second seeded opponent 11-9, 11-7, 11-4.

Before entering the final, the 21-year-old Indian overcame a tough challenge from British fourth seed Sarah-Jane Perry 11-8, 6-11, 16-14, 11-3 in the semi-final. She also beat qualifier Laura Pomportes and seventh seed Amanda Landers-Murphy in straight games, en route to the final.

After losing the tight first game, world No. 19 Chan altered her approach as she opted to attack more. The tactical switch worked well in the opening stage of the game, before Pallikal adjusted her play to combat her opponent, who is world number 19.

Some timely winners extended the top seed’s lead to two games and a continuation of the form saw her run to a 6-0 lead in the third game. Chan was unable to combat the increased pressure from the Indian and was only able to scrape back a few points before Pallikal closed out the contest to win her 6th WSA title.

Final:

[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [2] Joey Chan (HKG) 11-9, 11-7, 11-4

Semi-finals:

[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [4] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 11-8, 6-11, 16-14, 11-3

Quarter-finals:

[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [7] Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7

1st round:

[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [Q] Laura Pomportes (FRA) 11-6, 11-8, 11-9

Secunderabad Club AP Open (8-11 Jan’13)

Cyrus Poncha — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 13:50:34 +0000

The final day was a day of 5 setters at the AP State Open 2013. 4 of the 6 junior finals went all the distance. The day started of with a great match in the Girls U 11 where Megha Bhatia of DEL prevailed over Avani Nagar of MAH in a tense 5 setter. In the Boys U11 Shreeman Raghavan of TN beat his higher ranked state mate Keshav Pillai in the second 5 setter of the day. The Boys U13 Navneeth Prabhu of TN a 9/16 seed did himself proud while losing to Utkarsh Baheti of RAJ the top seed in 4 games. Shrishti Nagar of MAH beat the local lass Amita Gondi also in a thrilling 5 setter. Vikas Mehra of TN was made to really work hard in a gruelling 5 setter to retain his crown in Boys U15. The Girls U15 was a one sided affair with Shammika Reddy of TN defeating top seeded Riddhi Sampat of MAH.

RESULTS ALL FINALS:

MEN’S OPEN

(1)Arjun Agnihotri (Services) beat R Desappan (TN) 11-4, 11-4, 11-6.

MEN OVER-35

(2) Arvind Shetty (AP) beat 1:Kangaram Choudhary (Raj) 11-8, 11-5, 11-5

MEN OVER-45

(1) Deepak Moolani (Mah) beat Rajeev Bhatia (Karnataka) 11-4, 7-11, 11-2, 11-6

BOYS U-11

(2) Shreeman Raghavan (TN) beat Keshav Pillai (1) TN 4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7

BOYS U-13

(1) Utkarsh Baheti (Raj) beat S Navaneeth Prabhu (TN) 11-6, 7-11, 13-11, 11-9

BOYS U-15

(1) Vikas Mehra (TN) beat 2: Yash Bhargava (DEL) 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5, 11-7

GIRLS U-11

(1) Megha Bhatia (Del) beat 2: Avani Nagar (Mah) 11-3, 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 12-10

GIRLS U-13

(1) Shrishti Nagar (Mah) beat 2: Amita Gondi (AP) 11-6, 8-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8

GIRLS U-15

(2) Shamika Reddy (TN) beat 1: Riddhi Sampat (Mah) 13-11, 11-0, 11-3

ALL SEMI-FINALS

MEN:

Arjun Agnihotri beat Arjun Sitaram, AP, 11-3 11-3 11-0 .

R Desappan (3/4), TN, beat. Dheeraj Tewani 11-4, 11-3, 11-6

MEN O-35

Kangaram Choudhary beat Prem Chand 11-4, 12-14, 11-8, 11-4

Arvind Shetty beat Satyanarayana Ambaru 11-2, 11-8, 11-4

MEN O-45

Deepak Moolani beat. Keki N Colah 11-5, 11-5, 11-4

Rajeev Bhatia beat Rajiv Reddy 11-5, 11-3, 12-10

BOYS U 11:

Keshav Pillai beat Kanhav Nanavati 11-8, 11-9, 5-11, 11-2

Shreeman Raghavan beat Niranjan Sundararajan 11-9, 11-5, 5-11, 5-11, 11-6

BOYS U 13:

Utkarsh Baheti beat Pranav N Visvesh 13-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8

S Navaneeth Prabhu beat G Yashwanth Ragav 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7

BOYS U 15:

Vikas Mehra beat A Akash 11-2, 11-6,11-7

Yash Bhargava beat S Sesanth Varadhan 11-6, 11-9, 12-10

GIRLS U 11:

Megha Bhatia beat Aadhya Lakshmi Raja 11-2, 11-1, 11-4

Avani Nagar beat Darshana Vasudevan 11-2, 11-3, 11-5

GIRLS U 13:

Shrishti Nagar beat A Likhitha 11-1, 11-0, 11-0

Amita Gondi beat Samira Sankaran 11-3, 11-1, 11-8

GIRLS U 15:

Riddhi Sampat beat Janvi Rathore 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9

Shamika Reddy beat Mahima Gupta 11-9, 11-7, 11-3

BOYS U 11: (QUARTER-FINALS)

Keshav Pillai (1), TN, beat. Harsimar Singh Rattha (5/8), TN, 11-3 11-1 11-1 .

Kanhav Nanavati (5/8), TN, beat. Lakshit Bohra (3/4), Raj, 15-13 13-11 7-11 8-11 14-12 .

Niranjan Sundararajan (3/4), UP, beat. Parthiv N Yagnesh (5/8), TN, 11-8 11-4 11-4 .

Shreeman Raghavan (2), TN, beat. Aryan Khandelwal (5/8), MP, 11-6 11-6 11-6 .

BOYS U 13 (QUARTER-FINALS)

Utkarsh Baheti (1), Raj, beat. Shlok Makhija (5/8), Mah, 11-4 11-8 11-5 .

Pranav N Visvesh (5/8), TN, beat. Jairaj Singh (3/4), Raj, 11-8 11-3 11-4 .

S Navaneeth Prabhu (9/16), TN, beat. R Kishore Aravind (9/16), TN, 11-9 12-10 14-12 .

G Yashwanth Ragav (2), TN, beat. Bhuvan Uthaiah (5/8), TN, 11-4 11-8 11-5 .

BOYS U 15 (QUARTER-FINALS)

Vikas Mehra (1), TN, beat. Sanam Mehta (5/8), TN, 11-2 11-0 11-2 .

A Akash (5/8), TN, beat. Siddharth Shukla (3/4), Mah, 12-14 11-8 11-7 11-5 .

S Sesanth Varadhan (9/16), TN, beat. N Kiran (5/8), TN, 11-5 9-11 11-8 10-12 11-9 .

Yash Bhargava (2), UP, beat. Pranav Agarwal (9/16), TN, 11-2 11-0 11-2 .

GIRLS U 11 (QUARTER-FINALS)

Megha Bhatia (1), Del, beat. N Mounisha, TN, 11-0 11-5 11-1 .

Aadhya Lakshmi Raja, TN, beat. Abhisheka Shannon (3/4), TN, w.o..

Darshana Vasudevan (3/4), TN, beat. Neha Kalwala, AP, 11-1 11-2 11-0 .

Avani Nagar (2), Mah, beat. Anitha Reddy Singam, AP, 11-0 11-0 11-2 .

GIRLS U 13 (QUARTER-FINALS)

Shrishti Nagar (1), Mah, beat. Pilla Likitha Reddy, AP, 11-3 11-1 11-1 .

A Likhitha, AP, beat. Hritika Malhotra (3/4), Raj, w.o..

Samira Sankaran (3/4), Kar, beat. Neha Niranjan, TN, 12-10 15-13 11-7 .

Amita Gondi (2), AP, beat. Daisy Rani P, TN, w.o..

GIRLS U 15 (QUARTER-FINALS)

Riddhi Sampat (1), Mah, beat. Tanya Agarwal, TN, 11-5 11-3 11-3 .

Janvi Rathore (3/4), TN, beat. Nandika (5/8), Raj, 11-9 7-11 11-8 11-3 .

Mahima Gupta (3/4), Mah, beat. Shagun Agarwal (5/8), TN, 11-5 11-1 11-9 .

Shamika Reddy (2), TN, beat. S Priyanka (5/8), TN, 11-2 11-5 11-3 .

Scottish Junior Open, Edinburgh (7-9 Jan’13)

Cyrus Poncha — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:05:53 +0000

Two Indians participated in the Scottish Junior Open held in Edinburgh and finished runner up.

In the finals, Nick Wall from England defeated Tushar Shahani in a very tense 5 set encounter in the boys under 13 category 7-11, 9-11, 14-12, 16-14, 11-5, while top seeded in the girls under 15 Satomi Watanable from Japan defeated Akanska Salunkhe 5-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-3.

British Junior Open, Sheffield (2-6 Jan’13)

Cyrus Poncha — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 03:53:45 +0000

Mahesh Mangaonkar and Kush Kumar won bronze medals at the British Junior Open boys u19 and 17 respectively. Both seeded 3/4 bowed out in straight games to higher ranked opponents in the semi finals. A total of 22 Indians participated in this event.

A record of 5 Indians progressed to the quarterfinals. This was overall the best result for the Indian contingent. The top 5 performers were:

Boys U19 – Mahesh Mangaokar – Bronze medal

Boys U17 – Kush Kumar – Bronze medal

Boys U15 – Velavan Senthilkumar – 5th Position

Girls U19 – Lakshya Ragavendran – 7th Position

Girls U19 – Aparajitha Balamurukan – 8th Position

60th National Championships 2012 (18-23 Dec’12)

Cyrus Poncha — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 05:37:19 +0000

Saurav Ghosal defended his eighth National title — last seven in-a-row — with a hard-fought victory over second seed Harinder Pal Sandhu while Joshana Chinappa bagged her 11th national title crown, defeating Anaka Alankamony.

It took a little over 20 minutes for the top seed Ghosal to tame a fighting Sandhu. The scoreline of 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 not only misled the intensity of the contest but also the spirit the two ‘best friends’ displayed on the court. Ghosal’s experience and superior overall game ensured the world no. 21 won in staring games.

Joshana powered her way to winning yet another national title. Having won her first national title at the age of 14 Joshana inched closer to equal Ms. B. Kumari’s record of 16 titles.

Anaka the 18-year-old second seed tried hard to match a faster and more experienced opponent only to find the victory eluding her in her third final of her career.

Mens

Final:

Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Harinder Pal Sandhu (TN) 11-5, 11-4, 11-3.

Semi-finals:

[1] Saurav Ghosal bt [3/4] Ravi Dixit 11-9, 11-4, 11-7

[2] Harinder Pal Sandhu bt [3/4] Mahesh Mangaonkar 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7

Quarter-finals:

[1] Saurav Ghosal bt [5/8] Gaurav Nandrajog 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (28m)

[3/4] Ravi Dixit bt [5/8] Vikas Jangra 9-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7 (40m)

[3/4] Mahesh Mangaonkar bt [5/8] Abhinav Sinha 11-3, 11-6, 11-3

[2] Harinder Pal Sandhu bt [5/8] Sandeep Jangra 12-10, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9 (37m)

Women’s

Final:

Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Anaka Alankamony (TN) 11-7, 11-4, 11-8.

Semi-finals:

[1] Joshana Chinappa bt [3/4] Vrishrutyi Sahni 11-8, 11-1, 11-1

[2] Anaka Alankamony bt [3/4] Sachika Ingale 11-3, 11-3, 5-11, 12-10

Quarter-finals:

[1] Joshana Chinappa bye

[3/4] Vrishrutyi Sahni bt Janet Vidhi 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 13-11, 14-12

[3/4] Sachika Ingale bt Aishwarya Bhattacharya 11-4, 11-7, 11-4

[2] Anaka Alankamony bt Tamanna 11-0, 11-0, 11-2

Over 35

Final

Saurabh Nayar (2), Chd, def. Vikas Nayar (1), Chd, 11-7 2-11 11-7 11-9 .

Vikas Nayar (1), Chd, def. Jaytirth Asundi (3/4), KTK, 11-8 11-7 11-6 .

Saurabh Nayar (2), Chd, def. Hemant Nadkarni (3/4), Mah, 8-11 11-7 11-5 7-11 12-10 .

Over 40

Final

Manish Chotrani (1), Mah, def. Dalip Tripathi (2), WB, 12-14 7-11 13-11 11-8 13-11 .

Manish Chotrani (1), Mah, def. Parth Sethia, WB, 6-11 11-6 11-9 11-5 .

Dalip Tripathi (2), WB, def. Anil Bhagat (3/4), Delhi, 11-8 8-11 11-5 11-8 .

Over 45

Final

Kavi Seth (3/4), WB, def. Rohit Thawani (1), Mah, 11-6 11-3 11-2 .

Rohit Thawani (1), Mah, def. Deepak Moolani (3/4), Mah, 6-11 11-6 11-5 11-7 .

Kavi Seth (3/4), WB, def. Mohanish Sawant (2), Mah, 11-7 8-11 11-6 11-

Over 50

Final

Vikram Singh (3/4), Chd, def. Vijay Jaini (2), Haryana, 11-8 6-11 7-11 12-10 11-7 .

Vikram Singh (3/4), Chd, def. O’Neil Pramanik (1), WB, 6-11 11-6 7-11 11-7 11-7 .

Vijay Jaini (2), Haryana, def. Sanjay Jalan (3/4), WB, 11-6 11-3 11-1 .

Over 55

Final

Swagat Bam (3/4), Delhi, def. V Laxman (3/4), TN, 11-4 11-6 4-11 11-4 .

V Laxman (3/4), TN, def. Lalit Agnihotri (1), Mah, 13-11 11-6 11-8 .

Swagat Bam (3/4), Delhi, def. Bharatinder Singh (2), Delhi, 11-7 8-11 11-

Pro

Final

A Parthiban (1), TN, def. Paramit Singh (2), Del, 8-11 11-6 11-5 11-3

A Parthiban (1), TN, def. Sanjay Pawar (3/4), Mah, 11-3 11-7 11-6 .

Paramit Singh (2), Del, def. B Balamurugan (3/4), TN, 9-11 11-9 12-10 11