The Hindu : Delhi retains title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 27, 2003

Sport

Sport - Squash

Delhi retains title

By Our Sports Reporter

The Delhi team of (from left) Ritwick Bhattacharya, Gaurav Nandrajog, Amjad Khan, Varun Kataruka and Yashvardhan Singh that won the inter-State squash title in Kolkata on Wednesday.

KOLKATA NOV. 26. Defending champion Delhi retained the inter-state squash title beating Tamil Nadu 3-2 in a well contested final here at Calcutta Racket Club on Wednesday.

Tamil Nadu, which upset Services in the semifinals to make its maiden final, stretched Delhi to the decider in a best of five-match final. But Gaurav Nandrajog negated the Tamil Nadu's hopes winning the crucial tie to keep Delhi on top of the hierarchy for another season.

With a clutch of India Cements squash academy wards turning out for Tamil Nadu, Delhi was given a good fight. The Northern champion, however, made its ground thanks to the presence of country's two top ranking players — No. 1 Ritwick Bhattacharya and third ranked Gaurav Nandrajog.

Bhattacharya beat the National under-19 champion Saurav Ghosal in the third match that put Delhi 2-1 up. Ghosal matched his senior opponent both in class and stamina but experience seemed to win it for Bhattacharya who had to slog for almost an hour and four games to get it past the junior champion.

Delhi started off with a deficit as Vinayak Shetty of Tamil Nadu downed Varun Kataruka in a prolonged five-setter. Amjad Khan restored parity for Delhi winning the second tie against A. Parthiban. Bhattacharya beat Ghosal next but the National under-15 champion Harinderpal Singh brought back Tamil Nadu into the reckoning beating Yashvardhan Singh in another match stretched to the decider.

Nandrajog finally dismissed Bala Murugan in straight games to settle the issue for Delhi. Maharashtra took the third place beating Services 4-1.

The results: Final: Delhi bt Tamil Nadu 3-2 (Varun Kataruka lost to Vinayak Shetty 9-5, 9-7, 7-9, 3-9, 2-9; Amjad Khan bt A. Parthiban 9-2, 9-6, 9-2; Ritwick Bhattacharya bt Saurav Ghosal 2-9, 9-6, 9-2, 10-8; Yashvardhan Singh lost to Harinderpal Singh 9-5, 6-9, 9-3, 1-9, 1-9; Gaurav Nandrajog bt Bala Murugan 9-4, 9-5, 9-0.

Third-place play-off: Maharashtra bt Services 4-1: Sandeep Jangra bt D. Sisodia 9-6, 9-4, 9-4; Mahesh Verma lost to Tarun Nauni 3-9, 6-9, 1-9; Supreet Singh bt Vikas Jangra 10-8, 6-9, 9-5, 9-5; Vaibhav Gupta bt Anshuman Choudhary 9-0, 5-9, 9-4, 4-9, 9-4; Karan Bhatty bt Sami Khare (walkover).

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