Ritwik, Joshna retain titles in Western India Squash championship

Mumbai, Nov 18 (UNI) Top seeds Ritwik Bhattacharya and Joshna Chinappa lived up to their reputations when they retained the Men's Open and Women's titles respectively, in the 64th CCI-Western India Open Squash Championship, at the CCI today.

Formidable Bhattacharya showed who is the boss with a magnificent 9-7, 9-1, 9-2 triumph over second seed Sandeep Jangra in a final that lasted just 26 minutes.

Bhattacharya, ranked No 72 in the world, took time to settle down at the start as Jangra kept pace until the later half of the opening game. But Bhattacharya was soon focused for the rest of the match as Jangra looked helpless.

Defending champion Joshna Chinappa overcame England's Mandy Kennedy for the second time in two months following a 3-0 victory in the women's final.

Chinappa, who beat former junior England player Kennedy in the HSBC Maharashtra State Open at the Bombay Gymkhana not too long ago, won 9-5, 9-5, 9-2 in a tie that lasted 35 minutes.

Top seed Saumya Karki lived up to her top billing and helped herself to a double crown. Seeded No 1 in the girls' under-19 and under-15 categories, 14-year-old Karki was the toast of the finals day as she romped to impressive wins for a double delight.

Karki first demolished unseeded Urvashi Joshi 9-1, 9-2, 9-0 for the under-19 title, and later took a little longer to overcome fourth seed Namrata Purohit 9-5, 9-1, 9-3 for the under-15 crown to complete a rewarding day.

In the boys' under-13 category, top seed Arun Kochhar did not have it as easy and was forced to toil for the title in a pulsating championship round against second seed Raghav Mehrotra.

Kochhar, who surged to a comfortable 2-0 advantage and looked set to settle the issue without much ado, surprisingly endured a strong challenge from Mehrotra who brilliantly came back into the match to force the decider.

But Mehrotra lost his way in the fifth and final game as Kochhar took an early lead and held on to seal a 9-5, 9-5, 4-9, 5-9, 9-4 victory.

Results (All Finals): Men's Open: Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Sandeep Jangra 9-7, 9-1, 9-2.

Women: Joshna Chinappa (Chennai) bt Mandy Kennedy (England) 9-5, 9-5, 9-2.

Boys U-19: Vikram Malhotra vs Aditya Jagtap.

Boys U-17: Aditya Jagtap bt Abhishek Pradhan 9-2, 9-7, 9-4.

Boys U-15: Abhishek Pradhan bt Mahesh Mangaonkar 9-4, 9-2, 9-4.

Boys U-13: Arjun Kochhar bt Raghav Mehrotra 9-5, 9-5, 4-9, 5-9, 9-4.

Boys U-11: Yohan Pandole bt Sandeep Paswan 9-3, 9-0, 9-3.

Girls U-19: Saumya Karki bt Urvashi Joshi 9-1, 9-2, 9-0.

Girls U-15: Saumya Karki bt Namrata Purohit 9-5, 9-1, 9-3.

U-9: Ben Kennedy bt Ivan Phillip 9-2, 8-10, 9-3, 9-5.

Professionals: C Gomez (Mexico) bt Rohit More 9-6, 4-9, 9-5, 9-5.

Over-55: Kishan Lal bt Raj Manchanda 9-2, 4-9, 9-2, 9-3.

UNI