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JSW -Sunil Verma Memorial Open (Dec 8-11, Vasind, Mumbai)
The JSW courts in Vasind was the scene of hectic activity, thanks to this annual SRFI three-star tournament which witnessed good response and keen competition. Three age categories saw the exit of the top seeds before the title-round with the U-15 boys section producing the biggest upsets of both the top seed and second seed going out in the semi-finals. Overall form was the key to success and a set of several new names to adorn the winning list. Following were the winners:
Click to watch replay of Finals
Boys: U-11: Aditya Chandani (Mah);
U-13: Shreyas Mehta (Mah);
U-15: Deepak Mandal (Mah);
U-17: Rahul Baitha (Mah);
U-19: Yohann Surti (Mh);
U-23: Abhishek Agarwal (Mah).
Girls: U-11: Tiana Parasrampuria (Mah);
U-13: Yuvna Gupta (Mh);
U-15: Yoshna Singh (Mah);
U-19: Aishwrya Bhattacharya (Mah).
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Mixed luck for Saurav Ghosal in Channel VAS Championship (St George's Hill, Surrey, Dec 6-12)
National champion Saurav Ghosal started off well, beating a seeded player Borja Golan, the 7th seed from Spain in the first round. The four game win (11-5, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8) in just over an hour seemed on par with the Indian's abilities. But lot more significantly, this was Saurav's first win over the Spaniard in eight meetings since November 2006. For someone who has been striving to go up the ladder in the ranking list but facing struggle at every turn, Saurav could not have asked for a better start. But as it happened he was unfortunate to have faced the highly inspired Daryl Selby of England,next. Though unseeded the English player had turned giant-killer after dislodging the top seed and world number one Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt in a terrific five-game first round thriller. In the mood he was in Selby had too many aces up his sleeve for Saurav and took his dream run into the semi-final past the Indian with a 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 win.
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National calendar to get busier
Testimony to the good times for squash is here. The continuing efforts of SRFI to augment squash activity (read competition) in the country has borne fruit to the extent that the national circuit is being widened with the addition of four new tournaments in the coming months starting with the HCL junior in Greater Noida to be held later this week. The All India Chhattisgarh Open in Raipur, DAIS Moment of Joy Otters Club Junior and 1st Juhu Gymkhana, both in Mumbai, are the new additions to give the squash calendar a healthier look from 2017. Do log on to our website www.indiasquash.com for registration.
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| Watch REPLAY - 5th JSW Sunil Verma Memorial Junior Open 2016 |
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National camps to become regular affairs
Practice makes a man (read player) perfect, is an old English proverb. The foreign coach Ashraf El Karargui and national coach Cyrus Poncha have taken to this line of thinking while introducing the concept of national camps at frequent intervals in the run to any major international assignment, senior and junior, so that the Indian teams could be kept in better shape for the challenges. As a start, the month saw the call for a national camp for the junior squad for the Asian championship in Hong Kong in February, 2017 and the doubles pairs for the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Australia. The camp at the IndianSquash Academy was hindered a little by the devastating Cyclone that hit the metropolis. Then again in the senior section, three men players missed the opener because of injury issues. They were Mahesh Mangaonkar, Vikram Malhotra, Harinder Pal Sandhu. The rest, Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Velavan Senthilkumar showed the required enthusiasm for this new venture, which according to Poncha will be timed each time in such a way that it did not come in the way of PSA schedules and to that extent would not burden the professionals in their quest for improved rankings.
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Good memories to cherish from 2016
It is that part of the year when old year slowly gets ready to enter history and the new one comes close to usher in fresh hopes and aspirations. The year that is going by has had several good moments to cherish for squash aficionados. Mumbai U-13 lad Neel Joshi set the tone for the year when he finished with a bronze at the prestigious British Junior. The seniors then made it grander in the South Asian Games which India hosted in Guwahati in February by winning three of the four squash gold medals at stake. Joshna Chinappa won a double, singles and team (along with Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Akanksha Salunkhe and Sunayna Kuruvilla) and while Saurav Ghosal, Harinderpal Singh Sandhu, Ravi Dixit and Kush Kumar ensured the men's team gold. The only gain for the key rival, Pakistan was the individual men's gold. One of the brightest moments of the year came from Velavan Senthilkumar in Malaysia when he won the Asian title, the second male to win after Ravi Dixit. There were other individual honours too. Overseas Indian Vikram Malhotra won two PSA titles while seasoned Joshna came into the top ten in world ranking for the first time. On the other hand, Dipika had the satisfaction of winning the national title beating arch rival Joshna and a PSA title as well later. Incidentally Saurav won the men's title. Among the other splashes, the silver medal finish for Saurav and Dipika in the mixed doubles in the World championship in Darwin and the silver medal win in the Asian Team championship in Chinese Taipei stood out, among other things, to fill the year's cup of joy.
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Please note that your I-SPIN is due for renewal for the subsequent year 2017. The renewal process has began from Nov 1, 2016. Please note the following updates
Renewal is required for all players under the age of 35
- Please login and renew your I-SPIN at www.indiasquash.com (Please click on the renewal button available in your profile page).
- Renewal charges are Rs. 1,700 (plus tax) for player below 19 and Rs. 499 (plus tax) for player between the age of 19-35.
- Players above 19 and below 35, registering for ISPIN for first time will have to pay Rs. 499 (plus tax) to get a ISPIN profile.
- All players should have a valid/active ISPIN ID in order to participate in 2017 SRFI Championships.
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