Kumar shocks No 4 Jalan to enter semis in boys u-19

Mumbai, Sep 26 (UNI) Karm Kumar of Delhi stunned fourth seed Rishi Jalan of Rajasthan to storm into the boys' under-19 semi-finals, in the 32nd Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra State Open Squash Championship here today.

Kumar got off to a good start by snatching the opening game, but Jalan came back into the match by taking the next two for a 2-1 advantage. But Jalan's five-setter played earlier, that saw him advance to the boys' under-17 semi-final, took its toll as he struggled for stamina. Kumar seized the opportunity and clinched the fourth and fifth games without much ado for an impressive 9-1, 6-9, 4-9, 9-1, 9-2 win.

Girls under-19 third seed Urvashi Mishra also was taken the distance before rallying to overcome fourth seed Namrata Purohit 4-9, 9-2, 2-9, 9-1, 9-3 in an all-Maharashtra contest. In another close tie, Bombay Gymkhana lass Madhura Paranjpe made the most of home conditions to beat Nikita Mann of Madhya Pradesh 9-5, 4-9, 9-4, 9-7 to join Mishra in the last four.

In the tightest match of the day, fourth seed Pankhuri Malhotra of Delhi overcame a strong challenge from fancied Shweta Yadav of Maharashtra before fashioning a thrilling 9-3, 8-10, 10-8, 3-9, 9-4 win in the girls' under-13 quarter-finals.

Malhotra surprisingly dropped the second game and won the next, both over extra points, as she surged to a 2-1 lead. But Yadav fought her way back brilliantly to take the fourth game and force the decider. An early lead, though, saw Malhotra in a comfortable position in the fifth and final game before she sealed her place in the semi-finals.

India's No 1 and women's top seed Joshna Chinappa of Chennai and defending champion Mandy Kennedy of England fashioned fluent wins to also advance to the semi-finals.

RESULTS (All Quarter-Finals): Men's Open: Vikas Jangra (Mah) bt Rohit More (Mah) 9-6, 9-3, 9-4; Amjad Khan (Del) bt Ben Elias (Mah) 9-5, 9-4, 9-6; Laxman Joshi (Mah) bt Subodh (Mah) 9-0, 9-2, 9-2; Sandeep Jangra (Mah) bt Dhiraj Nagpal (Mah) 9-1, 9-2, 9-7.

Women: Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Avani Shetty (Mah) 9-2, 9-3, 9-1; Swati Muchhal (MP) bt Nusrat Madraswala (Mah) 3-9, 9-4, 9-0, 9-1; Shaheen Madraswala (Mah) bt Rhea Bhandare (Mah) 9-7, 9-6, 9-5; Mandy Kennedy (Mah) bt Shaheda Madraswala (Mah) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1.

Boys U-19: Laxman Joshi (Mah) bt Abhinav Sinha (Mah) 9-1, 9-2, 9-4; Ashray Ohri (Raj) bt Cadet Kumar Gaurav (NDA) 9-0, 9-4, 9-1; Karm Kumar (Del) bt Rishi Jalan (Raj) 9-1, 6-9, 4-9, 9-1, 9-2; Cyrus Vakil (Mah) bt Naveen Jangra (Mah) 9-6, 9-3, 9-1.

Boys U-17: Rishi Jalan (Raj) bt Ashray Ohri (Raj) 6-9, 9-2, 1-9, 9-2, 9-1; Abhishek Pradhan (Mah) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (Mah) 9-7, 9-5, 9-6; Abhinav Sinha (Mah) bt Hemant Manjrekar (Mah) 9-2, 9-0, 9-0; Karm Kumar (Del) bt Indraneel Baruah (Raj) 9-2, 9-5, 9-2.

Boys U-15: Abhishek Pradhan (Mah) bt Sashi Pandey (Mah) 9-4, 9-4, 9-1; Vrishab Kotian (Mah) bt Rahil Fazilbhoy (Mah) 5-9, 4-9, 10-8, 9-0, 9-0; Aakash Borwankar (Mah) bt Dharmesh Bisnoi (Raj) 9-2, 9-2, 9-0; Caran Arora (Mah) bt Kush Kumar (Del) 10-9, 9-10, 9-2, 10-8.

Boys U-13: Kush Kumar (Del) bt Ishaan Advani (Mah) 3-9, 9-4, 9-4, 9-1; Deepak Mishra (Del) bt Yash Bhansali (Mah) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1.

Boys U-11: Sidharth Singh (Raj) bt Mohit Yadav (Mah) 9-1, 9-7, 9-0; Rajat Agarwal (Mah) bt Yohann Surti (Mah) 4-9, 9-3, 9-3, 9-1; Sandeep Paswan (Mah) bt Kshiteej Prasad (Mah) 9-2, 9-4, 9-0; Yohan Pandole (Mah) bt Vedant Baheti (MP) 9-2, 9-1, 9-0.

Girls U-19: Urvashi Mishra (Mah) bt Namrata Purohit (Mah) 4-9, 9-2, 2-9, 9-1, 9-3; Madhura Paranjpe (Mah) bt Nikita Mann (MP) 9-5, 4-9, 9-4, 9-7.

Girls U-17: Shivangi Paranjpe (Mah) bt Anju Sharma (Mah) 9-3, 9-1, 9-0; Sachika Balvani (Mah) bt Anissa Malhotra (Mah) 9-0, 9-3, 9-0; Shaheen Madraswala (Mah) bt Khushi Agarwal (Mah) 9-2, 9-0, 9-0.

Girls U-15: Saumya Karki (Mah) bt Varsha Pandey (Mah) 9-1, 9-0, 9-0; Anju Sharma (Mah) bt Urvashi Joshi (Mah) 9-2, 9-3, 10-8; Sachika Balvani (Mah) bt Namrata Purohit (Mah) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0 (Retd).

Girls U-13: Saumya Karki (Mah) bt Rhea Advani (Mah) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Varsha Pandey (Mah) bt Adya Advani (NDA) 9-5, 9-3, 9-5; Pankhuri Malhotra (Del) bt Shweta Yadav (Mah) 9-3, 8-10, 10-8, 3-9, 9-4; Urvashi Joshi (Mah) bt Aishwarya Kulkarni (Mah) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1.

Girls U-11: Pankhuri Malhotra (Del) bt Gayatri Raheja (Mah) 9-2, 9-5, 9-2; Aishwarya Nambiar (Mah) bt Sia Karki (Mah) 9-7, 9-0, 9-0; Aishwarya Bhattacharya (Mah) bt Adya Advani (NDA) 10-9, 9-4, 5-9, 4-9, 9-4.

U-9: Param Maru (Mah) bt Khushi Tomar 9-0, 9-1, 9-1; Ben Kennedy (Mah) bt Siddhant Iyer (Mah) 9-4, 8-10, 9-3, 9-3; Ivan Philip (Mah) bt Dev Vazirani (Mah) 2-9, 9-4, 9-7, 9-4; Aman Girish Rau (Mah) bt Ankit Jayant (Mah) 9-5, 9-6, 9-0.

Professionals: Sanjay Pawar (Mah) bt Vijay Jangra (Raj) 9-5, 9-4, 9-10, 9-3; Vijay Sonawane (Mah) bt Gopichand Mohite (Mah) 9-3, 9-3, 9-5; Sachin Jadhav (Mah) bt Santosh More (Mah) 9-4, 5-9, 8-10, 9-1, 9-3; Rohit More (Mah) bt Vijay Waghela (Mah) 9-7, 9-2, 9-1.

UNI