Rinki, Shaheda advance in Otters Open squash tournament

Mumbai, May 16 (UNI) Third seed Rinki Soni and No 4 Shaheda Madraswala breezed through the women's opening round with fluent 3-0 wins, as the ladies took center-stage in the Otters Million Open Squash Tournament 2007 at the Otters Club here today.

Soni warmed up for sterner tests ahead when she beat unseeded Urvashi Mishra 9-2, 9-1, 9-7, while Madraswala demolished a hapless Vidya Gupta Mohe 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.

In contrast, unseeded Komal Sharma was forced to struggle to a 4-9, 9-7, 10-8, 2-9, 10-8 win over Sunita Patwa after enjoying a crucial 2-1 lead, in one of the most exciting matches of the day.

Patwa fought her way back into the match by clinching the crucial fourth game before Sharma snatched the pulsating decider over extra points.

In another absorbing tie, third seed Karm Kumar survived a scare when he overcame a 1-2 deficit to rally to an exciting 3-9, 9-5, 0-9, 9-3, 9-4 win over No. 6 Sujat Barua in a boys under-19 quarter-final encounter.

RESULTS: Women's [1st Rd]: Komal Sharma bt Sunita Patwa 4-9, 9-7, 10-8, 2-9, 10-8; Shaheda Madraswala bt Vidya Gupta Mohe 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Swati Muchal bt Tanya Arora 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Avani Shetty bt Sweta Singh 10-9, 9-2, 9-3; Rinki Soni bt Urvashi Mishra 9-2, 9-1, 9-7.

Girls U-17 [1st Rd]: Komal Sharma bt Surbhi Kuwelkar 9-1, 9-2, 9-4; Anju Sharma bt Torial Bhansali 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Urvashi Mishra bt Nikita Gulati 9-0, 9-1, 9-1; Sareena K bt Rajeev Mehta 9-1, 9-6, 9-7.

Girls U-15 [1st Rd]: Anju Sharma bt Ruchi Mishra 9-0, 9-4, 9-3.

1-Dheeya Somaiya bt Zarina Sani 9-2, 9-0, 9-0; Shria Khatri bt Toral Bhansali 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; 2-Ankita Sharma bt Varsha Pandey 9-2, 9-1, 9-0; Urvashi Joshi bt Heba Jonson 9-6, 9-0, 9-1.

Boys U-19 [Q/F]: Karm Kumar bt Sujat Barua 3-9, 9-5, 0-9, 9-3, 9-4; Farman Khan bt Rohan Zaveri 10-9, 9-0, 9-1; Cyrus Vakil bt Abhinav Sinha 9-3, 9-7, 9-7; Rishi Jalan bt Akhilesh Nayak 9-5, 9-10, 9-2, 9-5.

Boys U-17 [Q/F]: Akhilesh Nayak bt Pranay Merchant 9-1, 9-3, 6-9, 9-2; Rishi Jalan bt Anuj Chauhan 9-3, 9-1, 9-1; Abhinav Sinha bt Abhishek Pradhan 9-4, 9-7, 9-5; Karm Kumar bt Karan Thariyamal 9-1, 9-1, 9-1.

Boys U-13 [Q/F]: Deepak Kumar bt Sajid Hussain 9-0, 9-1, 9-2; Kush Kumar bt Akhilesh Yadav 9-1, 9-2, 9-7; Rishi Tandon bt Kunj Rawani 9-0, 9-2, 9-5; Rahil Fazalbhoy bt Tushar Kotari 9-7, 6-9, 9-3, 9-2.

Boys U-11 [3rd Rd]: Sandeep Paswan bt Yohan Surti 9-1, 9-2, 6-9, 9-4; Kush Kumar bt Jatin Ghangas 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Yohan Pandole bt Aditya Singh 9-2, 9-6, 9-3; Anshul Goyal bt Ritwik Srivastava 9-6, 9-0, 9-2; Kunj Rawani bt Viraj Nadkarni 9-0, 9-3, 9-0; Akhilesh Yadav bt Ranjit Singh 9-3, 9-1, 9-4; Aditya Khatri bt Siddharth Gupta 9-0, 9-2, 9-0; Roshan Khanna bt Siddharth Singh 9-1, 9-0, 9-0.

Professionals: Rohit More bt A.I. Singh 9-1, 9-3, 9-4; Sanjay Pawar bt Yogesh S. 9-5, 9-6, 6-9, 9-4.

UNI