Local squash players shine in national c''ship

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 16 

Chandigarh’s squash players have brought laurels to the city by winning titles in the Summer Classic Junior Open Championship, which concluded at Noida today.

Jannia Singh, Sehar Nayar, Prithvi Singh and Ekam Singh won the finals of their respective age groups.

In the girls’ U-19 final, Jannia overpowered Trina Iris of Tamil Nadu. Jannia won the first two games 11-2 11-8 without facing any difficulty. However, Trina registered a 11-9 win in the next game. In the fourth game, Jannia controlled her nerves to log an 11-2 victory to take the final. She had defeated Astha Garg 11-1 11-2 11-3 in the semifinals on Monday. A student of Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, Jannia recently represented India in the Asian Junior Squash Championship in Macau. She had finished second runner-up in the ISA Junior Open and Emerald Heights Junior Open. She had claimed the 11th position in the US Junior Open in Boston in December last year.

Sehar won the girls’ U-17 title by easily defeating Divita Sri 11-6 11-2 11-6. In the semis, she had registered a stunning comeback 9-11 9-11 11-5 11-5 11-8 victory over Chavi Saran. Sehar is currently pursuing her studies at Vivek High School, Sector 38. She recently won the Goregaon Junior Open and Chandigarh State Championship.

Prithvi, Ekam shine

Prithvi won the boys’ U-19 title by defeating Diwakar Singh of Uttar Pradesh. He won the first two games 11-5 11-2 before going down 9-11 in the next. In the fourth game, Prithvi once again proved his worth and recorded an 11-2 win for the title. Earlier, in semis, he overpowered Nagpal 11-4 11-7 8-11 11-7. Fresh from his victory at the All-India Squash Open in Mumbai, Prithvi bagged his second title of the season.

Ekam won the boys’ U-17 title by defeating top seed Aryan Khandelwal from Madhya Pradesh. Ekam lost the first game 8-11 but recovered in the next two to log an 11-9 11-4 victory. 

In the fourth game, he was leading 8-3 when Khandelwal conceded the match following an injury. He had defeated Maharatsra’s Atharva Yadav 11-8 5-11 11-8 11-6 in the semis.