Saurav, Harinderpal in semis - Urwashi enters women’s last four at Maharashtra Squash championship

Ravi Dixit

Top seed Saurav Ghosal and No. 2 Harinderpal Singh Sandhu lived up to their reputations to sail into the Men’s Open semi-finals, in the 38th Bombay Gymkhana-HSBC Maharashtra State Open Senior Squash Championship, on Thursday.

Playing back-to-back matches, world No. 15 Ghosal warmed up with wins over Pranay Jain in the pre-quarter-finals and Chaitanya Shah in the semi-finals, while world No. 80 Sandhu cruised past Laxman Joshi of Jindal in the pre-quarters and Abhimanyu Shah in the quarters to remain on course for a mouth-watering title clash.

Joining Ghosal and Sandhu in the last four was Ravi Dixit of Tamil Nadu who halted Abhinav Sinha to set up a semi-final clash with Sandhu.

Second seed Urwashi Joshi of Jindal Squash Academy, Vashind and Nikita Joshi of Otters Club registered convincing wins to enter the women’s semi-finals.

Results: Men’s Open: Quarter-finals: Harinderpal Singh Sandhu (TN) bt Abhimanyu Shah (Bombay Gym) 11-7, 11-7, 15-13; Saurav Ghosal (Kol) bt Chaitanya Shah (Bombay Gym) 11-3, 11-6, 11-6; Ravi Dixit (TN) bt Abhinav Sinha 11-5, 11-4, 11-9; Aditya Jagtap bt Rishad Pandole (CCI) 11-8, 11-5, 11-7.

PQF: Saurav Ghosal bt Pranay Jain (Willingdon Catholic Gym) 11-6, 11-8, 11-9; Harinderpal Singh Sandhu bt Laxman Joshi (Jindal) 11-5, 11-8, 11-9; Ravi Dixit bt Yohan Pandole (CCI) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4; Abhimanyu Shah bt Aishwarya Singh (Jindal) 11-6, 11-9, 11-4; Rishad Pandole bt Shashi Pandey (Jindal) 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8; Chaitanya Shah bt Riyan Bhatia (CCI) 5-11, 11-6, 11-6, 6-11, 12-10; Aditya Jagtap bt Devchand Rai 11-3, 11-1, 11-2.

3rd Rd:Saurav Ghosal bt Aijaz Shaikh (NSCI) 11-1, 11-4, 11-4; Harinderpal Singh Sandhu bt Ganesh Kadam 11-2, 11-1, 11-2; Ravi Dixit bt Vivaan Jaikishan (Bombay Gym) 11-5, 11-2, 11-2; Yohan Pandole bt Yohann Surti (Willingdon SC) 12-10, 11-3, 11-9.

2nd Rd: Harinderpal Singh Sandhu bt Rahul Baitha (Jindal) 11-5, 11-5, 11-5.

Women (QF): Urwashi Joshi (Jindal) bt Diya Sanghi 11-3, 11-1, 11-3; Nikita Joshi (Otters Club) bt Abhilash Bhasin (Bombay Gym) 11-3, 11-6, 11-5.