Paranjpe steals the limelight

Mumbai's Shivangi Paranjpe was the toast of the day as she stormed into the women's and girls' under-15 semi-finals with convincing victories, in the 61st CCI-Western India Open Squash Tournament, co-sponsored by Lifebuoy, at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Thursday.

Seeded No. 3 in the women's category, Shivangi proved too good for Namrata Purohit and won 9-0, 9-2, 9-0.

Later, as top seed, she demolished Ria Dalwani 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 in the girls' under-15 quarter-finals to steal the day's honours.

If Shivangi hogged the limelight among the girls, Sandeep Jangra enjoyed a rewarding day among the boys by entering the under-19 and under-17 semi-finals.

Going into the match as the under-19 top seed, Jangra overcame arch-rival Vikram Malhotra 9-7, 9-1, 6-9, 9-3 in a tight contest between quality players. Malhotra proved a worthy challenger in a close opening game and impressed by snatching the third before he lost his way.

Also seeded No. 1 in the under-17 category, Jangra completed a fruitful day with a crushing 9-2, 9-0, 9-1 win over a hapless Zahan Dastur in a one-sided quarter-final.

In an exciting boys' under-15 quarter-final, Akhilesh Nayak, a product of the CCI Squash Academy, played a disciplined game and rallied to a deserving 10-8, 9-2, 6-9, 9-4 win over fancied Jay Dalal.

Results:

Women's (quarter-finals): Shivangi Paranjpe bt Namrata Purohit 9-0, 9-2, 9-0.

Girls under-15 (quarter-finals): Ankita Sharma bt Namrata Purohit 9-2, 9-0, 9-0; Shivangi Paranjpe bt Ria Dalwani 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.

Boys' under-19 (quarter-finals): Sandeep Jangra bt Vikram Malhotra 9-7, 9-1, 6-9, 9-3; Manek Mathur bt Dhiraj Nagpal 6-9, 9-2, 9-2, 9-0; Rushabh Vora bt Sarvesh Chauhan 9-1, 9-1, 9-0; Imran Khan (Dhampur) bt Ritesh Sharma 9-7, 10-8, 1-9, 9-3.

Boys' under-17 (quarter-finals): Sandeep Jangra bt Zahan Dastur 9-2, 9-0, 9-1.

Boys' under-15 (quarter-finals): Akhilesh Nayak bt Jay Dalal 10-8, 9-2, 6-9, 9-4; Laxman Joshi bt Ravi Dixit (Dhampur) 9-0, 9-4, 9-4.

Boys' under-13 (quarter-finals): Aditya Jagtap bt Pranay Merchant 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Aadit Zaveri bt Caran Arora 10-8, 9-0, 9-1; Ishan Advani bt Naman Jiandani 9-4, 6-9, 9-7, 9-3.

Professionals (semi-finals): Rohit More bt Vijay Sonawane 9-10, 9-10, 9-0, 9-0, 9-2; Anant More bt Dashrath Tambe 9-6, 9-6, 9-7.