A resilient Akanksha Gupta exhibited remarkable fighting spirit to record a come-from-behind 3-2 win against Rudra Singh in a thrilling all-Indian girls’ under-17 semi-final of the 13th Bombay Gymkhana Jaguar-Indian Junior Open Squash Championship 2023, organised under the auspices of the SRFI and SRAM and played at the Bombay Gymkhana courts on Tuesday.
The 14-year-old Akanksha, a student of Hiranandani Foundation School, Thane took time to settle down and tamely surrendered the first two games as Rudra raced to a 2-0 lead. Akanksha came out all guns blazing and produced an outstanding performance and hardly allowed Rudra any chances as she played some excellent strokes to hit some fine winners and clinched the crucial the game with dropping a point to complete a fantastic 4-11, 6-11, 11-4, 12-10, and 11-0 verdict.
The other semi-final, which was also contested between Indian challengers, also witnessed an engrossing tussle which Unnati Tripathi of Uttar Pradesh managed to win against her statemate and joint 3/4-seed Navya Sundararajan 5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4, and 11-6.
The girls’ under-19 last four, an all-India affair saw 3/4-seed Nirupama Dubey defeated Reiva Nimbalkar 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, and 11-6 and second seed Pooja Arthi R. overcome 3/4-seed Tiana Parasrampuria 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6.
Meanwhile, Rohan Arya Gondi, who had defeated top seed Aryan Pratap Singh in the quarter-finals, continued with his winning form and easily defeated 3/4-seed Arihant Ks 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 in the semi-final. In the final, Rohan will meet second seed Yuvraj Wadhwani who overcame Tavneet Singh Mundra in four games at 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9.
Results (all semi-finals)
Girls
Under-11: Kareena Sashi Kumar (SIN) bt Shanaya Roy (IND) 11-3, 11-5, 10-12, 11-3; Divyanshi Jain (IND) bt Karesha Kugan (MAS) 11-5, 17-15, 11-8. U-13: Fabiha Nafees (IND) bt Krsejal Mirra (IND) 11-6, 11-2, 11-8; D. Nitiyasree (IND) bt Vasundhara Nangare (IND) 11-7, 11-5, 11-6. U-15: Dakshayani Thangaraja (MAS) bt Diva Shah (IND) 11-9, 11-3, 1-3; Anika Dubey (IND) bt Aradhya Porwal (IND) 11-5, 11-8, 17-15. Girls U-17: Akanksha Gupta (IND) bt Rudra Singh (IND) 4-11, 6-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-0; Unnati Tripathi (IND) bt Navya Sundararajan (IND) 5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6. U-19: Nirupama Dubey (IND) bt Reiva Nimbalkar (IND) 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6; Pooja Arthi R. (IND) bt Tiana Parasrampuria (IND) 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6.
Boys
U-11: Abhyuday Arora (IND) bt Prabhav Bajoria (IND) 9-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-9; Thanuj Reddy Puli (IND) bt Parshuram Lachaka (IND) 11-8, 11-9, 11-8. U-13: Shreyansh Jha (IND) bt Aryaman Singh 11-5, 8-11, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11; Shresht Iyer (IND) bt Vidhurran Ruthiran (MAS) 12-10, 11-1, 11-7. U-15: Aryaveer Dewan (IND) bt Savir Sood (IND) 11-4, 11-8, 11-6; Subhash Choudhary (IND) bt Purav Rambhia (IND) 11-3, 11-3, 7-11, 11-8. U-17: Gurveer Singh (IND) bt Arjun Somani (IND) 11-5, 11-4, 11-3; Dev Sharma (IND) bt Kavin Sood (IND) 8-11, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9. U-19: Rohan Arya Gondi (IND) bt Arihant Ks (IND) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6; Yuvraj Wadhwani (IND) bt Tavneet Singh Mundra (IND) 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9.
