Four of the top seeds fell to lower-ranked players in a day of upsets at the Indian Open junior squash championship here Friday.
Yash Fadte from Goa defeated giant-killer Rahul Baitha in fives sets after coming back from 1-2 down in the Boys Under-13 category. Yash was quick to every ball and moved the lanky Rahul to the front of the court with his drops.
In the Boys Under-15 category, Krish Kapoor from West Bengal displayed clinical finishing shots to wear down Adhithya Raghavan in straight games. Krish was stronger on the day volleying with exceptional accuracy.
Navmi Sharma defeated Sneha Sivakumar from Singapore, also in three games in the Girls Under-13 category. Also winning in straight games was Mayuri Namashivayam who defeated top seeded Jui Kalgutkar in the Girls Under-17 to enter her first major international final.
Lakshya Ragavendra defeated top seeded Sachika Ingale convincingly in three games in the Girls Under-19 category to set up the final against Urwashi Joshi from Mumbai.
It was a good day for the Indian Squash Academy players with seven players featuring in the finals to be played Saturday.
The results (all semi-finals):
BOYS - Under-11: 1-Navaneeth Prabhu (TN) bt Kanhav Nanavati (TN) 9-11 11-3 11-3 11-6; 2-Neel Joshi (MH) bt 3-Tanay Punjabi (MH) 11-8 11-6 11-8. Under-13: 1-Mohd. Hafiz Zhafri (Malaysia) bt 3-Tushar Shahani (MH) 9-11 11-8 7-11 11-7 12-10; Yash Fadte (Goa) bt Rahul Baitha (MH) 11-8 5-11 9-11 11-4 11-8.
Under-15: Krish Kapur (WB) bt 1-Adhitya Raghavan (TN) 11-9 11-7 11-7; 2-Robin Singh Mann (DEL) bt 3-Vikas Mehra (TN) 10-12 11-6 11-5 11-8. Under-17: 1-Sandeep Ramachandran (TN) bt 3-Yohan Pandole (MH) 11-5 17-15 11-5; 2-Velavan Senthil Kumar (TN) bt Mudit Pant (DEL) 11-1 4-11 11-2 11-8. Under-19: 1-Kush Kumar (TN) bt 2-Vijay Kumar (TN) 11-3, 7-11, 11-3, 6-11, 14-12.
GIRLS: Under-11: 1-Jessica Keng Jia Hui (Malaysia) bt 3-Ananya Dabke (MH) 11-7 11-3 11-6; 2-Vasundhra Vasanthan (Malaysia) bt 4-Megha Bhatia (HAR) 11-2 11-6 11-9. Under-13: Navmi Sharma (MH) bt 1-Sneha Sivakumar (Singapore) 12-10 12-10 11-5; 3-Samita Sivakumar (TN) bt 2-Abhilasha Bhasin (MH) 6-11 11-7 12-10 9-11 11-7.
Under-15: 1-Akanksha Salunkhe (Goa) bt Lui Hiu Lam (Hong Kong) 11-6 11-5 4-11 9-11 12-10; 2-Cheng Nga Ching (Hong Kong) bt Nikita Joshi (MH) 11-6 11-6 13-11. Under-17: 3-Mayuri Namasivayam (TN) bt 1-Jui Kalgutkar (MH) 11-3 11-3 11-7; 2-Ho Ka Wing (Hong Kong) bt 4-Aishwarya Bhattacharya (MH) 11-5 11-7 11-3. Under-19: 3-Lakshya Ragavendran (TN) bt 1-Sachika Ingale (UP) 11-7 11-4 11-7; 2-Urwashi Joshi (MH) bt Harshit Kaur Jawanda (DEL) 14-12, 11-3 11-3.
