Nadkarni scores close win in boys u-15; moves into third round

Mumbai, Aug 8 (UNI) Dattaraj Nadkarni overcame Siddharth Sharma 2-1 in a thriller to seal boys under-15 third round berth, in the DHFL-Matunga Gymkhana Junior Squash Open Tournament, that got under way at the Matunga Gymkhana here today.

In the match of the day, Nadkarni, of Matunga Gymkhana, made the most of home conditions to romp to an exciting 13-11, 8-11, 11-6 win over a determined Sharma to give the tournament an explosive start.

Nadkarni endured an early challenge in the opening game as he snatched over extra points. He dropped the second after Sharma made a late recovery, but an early lead in the decider put Sharma under pressure as Nadkarni smacked crucial winners en route to a hard-earned win.

In another close second round, Ajaan Jayant braved a tough challenge in the first game before cruising to a 14-12, 11-5 win over Arjun Melwani.

Rahul Modi also encountered stiff resistance before prevailing over Rameez Shaikh 11-4, 12-10 to enter the Boys' Under-19 second round.

Results: Boys U-15: 2nd Rd: Dattaraj Nadkarni bt Siddharth Sharma 13-11, 8-11, 11-6; Naman Jiandani bt Dhruv 11-3, 11-7; Ajaan Jayant bt Arjun Melwani 14-12, 11-5; Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Rahul Shah 11-1, 11-3; Vrishabh Kotian bt Anand Shrishrimal 11-1, 11-6; Viraj Nair bt Arjun Jaidhara 11-2, 11-1; Caran Arora bt Zeus Bandopadhyay 11-0, 11-2; Aditya Kochchar bt Paras Singh 11-1, 11-2; Samir Mistry bt Chirag Punjabi 11-0, 11-2; Akash Borwankar bt Saurab Savara 11-1, 11-1.

1st Rd: Zeus Bandopadhyay bt Manav Chandok 11-7, 11-5; Anirudh Murthy bt Aditya Vardhan Gupta 11-5, 11-0; Rahul Shah bt Pawan Shahani 11-2, 11-2; Siddharth Sharma bt Ram Bhadra 11-4, 11-0; Piyush Lalchandani bt Andre Shah 4-11, 11-5, 11-7; Aakash Kutty bt Hemant Manjrekar 12-10, 11-6; Chirag Punjabi bt Suyesh Goel 11-5, 11-7. Boys U-19: 1st Rd: Rahul Modi bt Rameez Shaikh 11-4, 12-10.

UNI