ISA Junior Open 2015: Daily report and results - May 27

Abhay Singh

CHENNAI: Expectedly the going was tough, the semi-finals can always be, and as it turned out the tough got going. Leading the brigade were two Tamil Nadu players, Abhay Singh in the boy’s U-17 and Samita Sivakumar in the girls U-15, both coming up with outstanding wins to reach the respective title round.

Abhay wore down the second seed Delhi lad Robin Singh Mann in four games for his first win in their eight meetings. Not surprisingly the young sardar, a trainee of the ISA, could not hold back his joy on that achievement. Equally wonderful was Samita’s effort. She beat the second seeded Navmi Sharma of Maharashtra, the second seed in five games. It was a struggle but in the end when things seemed to go out of her hands, this ISA trainee stood ground to carve out a good win.

Several matches ran close in keeping with the level of the competition. But there were a few that showed the top seed in bright light. Like up and coming Navaneeth Prabhu in the U-13 section. His consistency was the admiring aspect while in the case of Harshit Kaur in the U-19 section she seemed a class above the rest. It was smooth sailing for both. Among other matches mention has to be made of the plucky performer Vivaan Shah of Maharashtra in the U-11 section who scalped the second seed Ansh Tripathi , a local boy. Also admirable was the way Rahul Baitha ousted the second seed Veer chotrani in the U-15 section. Both are Maharashtra lads.

The boys U-19 section, the day’s last programme provided mixed fare with the top seed Yohan Pandole (Mah) almost wiped out of energy in his four-game win over Junaid Muzzafar (Del) where local lad and ISA trainee Velavan Senthilkumar not only won easily but beat the second seed Aishwary Singh in straight games to grab a place in the final.

The results: semi-finals:

Boys:

U-19: Yohan Darius Pandole (Mah) bt Junaid Muzzafar Thoker (Del) 12-10, 5-11, 13-11, 11-8; Velavan Senthilkumar (TN) bt Aishwary Singh (Mah) 11-3, 11-5, 11-3

U-17: Abhay singh (TN) bt Robin Singh Mann (Del) 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8; Adhitya Raghavan (TN) bt Ranjit Singh (UP) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9

U-15: Tushar Shahani (Mah) bt Yash Fadte (Goa) 11-7, 11-7, 11-8; Rahul Baitha (Mah) bt Veer Chotrani (Mah) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7;

U-13: Navaneeth Prabhu (TN) bt Tanay Punjabi (Mah) 11-4, 11-9, 11-6; Neel Joshi (Mah) bt Kanhav Nanavati (TN) 11-2, 11-2, 11-4

U-11: Paarth Ambani (Mah) bt Sharan Punjabi (Mah) 11-2, 11-7, 12-10; Vivaan Shah (Mah) bt Ans Tripathi (TN) 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-1

Girls:

U-19: Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Del) bt Riddhi Sampat (Mah) 11-5, 11-5, 11-2; Adya Advani (Mah) bt Mayuri Namasivayam (TN) 11-7, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3

U-17: Akanksha Salunkhe (Goa) bt Ashita Pranaya Bhengra (TN) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5; Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN) bt Nikita Joshi (Mah) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9

U-15: Diya Joukani (Mah) bt Darshana Vasudevan (TN) 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-8; Samita Sivakumar (TN) bt Navmi Sharma (Mah) 11-2, 11-4, 3-11, 11-13, 11-8

U-13: Aarya Ogale (Mah) bt Megha Bhatia (Del) 13-11, 11-8, 11-7; Ananya Dabke (Mah) bt Avani Nagar (Mah) 9-11, 11-9,11-9, 11-7

U-11: Yavna Gupta (Mah) bt Geetanjali Vasudevan (TN) 8-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-5, 11-6; Pooja Aarthi (TN) bt S. Akshaya Sri (TN) 11-7, 11-1, 11-4

U-19: Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Del) bt Riddhi Sampat (Mah) 11-5, 11-5, 11-2; Adya Advani (Mah) bt Mayuri Namasivayam (TN) 11-7, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3

U-17: Akanksha Salunkhe (Goa) bt Ashita Pranaya Bhengra (TN) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5; Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN) bt Nikita Joshi (Mah) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9

U-15: Diya Joukani (Mah) bt Darshana Vasudevan (TN) 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-8; Samita Sivakumar (TN) bt Navmi Sharma (Mah) 11-2, 11-4, 3-11, 11-13, 11-8

U-13: Aarya Ogale (Mah) bt Megha Bhatia (Del) 13-11, 11-8, 11-7; Ananya Dabke (Mah) bt Avani Nagar (Mah) 9-11, 11-9,11-9, 11-7

U-11: Yavna Gupta (Mah) bt Geetanjali Vasudevan (TN) 8-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-5, 11-6; Pooja Aarthi (TN) bt S. Akshaya Sri (TN) 11-7, 11-1, 11-4