Ravi, Mahesh shine in Scottish Open

Chennai, Dec 31 (UNI) Fourteen-year-old Ravi Dixit and top seeded Mahesh Mangaonkar lifted the Boys Under-15 and under-13 titles respectively while Saumya Karki finished runner-up in Girls under-13 events in the Scottish Junior Open Squash Championship today.

A release from Squash Racquets Federation of India (SRFI) said Ravi, participating in his first European event, defeated Cheong Kah Wah of Malaysia 9-4, 9-4, 8-10, 5-9, 9-6 in a 80-minute engrossing final at the Heriot-Watt University Squash Centre in Edinburgh.

In under-13 final, Mahesh Mangaonkar got the better of second seeded Dylan Murray of United States 9-7, 9-2, 5-9, 9-7 in 46 minutes.

Saumya Karki was unable to make it a hat trick for the Indians as her Egyptian opponent Manat Allah Naser was very consistent and played well to defeat Saumya in straight games in the girls under-13 final. Saumya lost 0-9, 4-9, 0-9 in 22 minutes.

Ravi played a flawless game in the first two games and won without much ado. In the tantalisingly poised third game, Ravi twice served at 8-6 but failed to finish off and allowed Wah to recover and win the game at 10-8.

The Malaysian led 8-1 in the fourth and won it before Ravi clawed his way back in the decider to pocket the match.

In the other match, Mahesh used all his experience to win the first game from 7-5 down and also bagged the second. Dylan came back well to win the third before Mahesh won the fourth to complete a fine day for India.

In the play off for third and fourth places in Girls under-13, Aparajitha Balamurugan defeated compatriot Sachika Balvani in straight games.

UNI