Dev sends Shah packing

Fourth seed Dev Vazirani of Khar Gymkhana shocked top seed Chaitanya Shah to storm into the boys' under-15 final in the Rs 1.5 lakh NSCI Juniors & Doubles Open Squash Championship, an SRFI 1-Star competition, at the National Sports Club of India on Tuesday.

Vazirani overcame the favourite from Bombay Gymkhana 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 in a tight semi-final after enduring a stiff challenge all the way. With this win, he set up a mouth-watering title clash with second seed Aryman Adik of Otters Club who halted the formidable Yohann Surti of Willingdon Sports Club, Mahalaxmi 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 12-10 in a thrilling second semi-final.

After warming up with a comfortable first set, Adik faced a strong challenge from a determined Surti who threatened to stretch the match into the decider after losing the third and crucial fourth over extra points in a nail-biting finish. In the doubles, Aishwarya Singh and Laxman Joshi of Jindal Squash Academy set up a championship round clash with Rishad Pandole and Sahil Vora of CCI.

Among the girls, the significant semi-final winners were Diya Joukhani of Khar Gymkhana, Akanksha Salunke of Goa and Aishwarya Bhattacharya of Bombay Gymkhana.

Results (All Semi-finals): Open Doubles: Aishwarya Singh/Laxman Joshi (Jindal) bt Mohammad Merchant/Karan Bhatty (Otters Club) 15-13, 8-15, 15-11; Rishad Pandole/Sahil Vora (CCI) bt Samir Mistry/Siddharth Samantray (JVPG) 15-12, 15-8; Girls' U-11: Ananya Dabke bt Ananya Morey 11-4, 11-5, 11-4; Arya Ogale bt Nikita Singh 11-8, 11-3, 11-2; Girls' U-13: Diya Joukhani (Khar Gym) bt Aariya Patel (CCI) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7; Akanksha Rao (Chembur Gym) bt Abhilasha Bhasin (Bombay Gym) 11-4, 11-5, 11-8; Girls' U-15: Akanksha Salunke (Goa) bt Aditi Makhija 11-3, 11-1, 11-2; Aditi Prasad bt Shrushti Nagar 11-7, 11-5, 11-9; Girls' U-17: Aishwarya Nambiar (Otters Club) bt Anushka Nair (Country Club) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7; Aishwarya Bhattacharya (Bombay Gym) bt Kamlesha Rajput (Jindal) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6; Boys' U-11: 2-Druv Vazirani (Khar Gym) bt Yash Salunke (Goa) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5; 1-Tanay Punjabi (Otters Club) bt Arman Darukhanawala (CCI) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8; Boys' U-13: 2-Advait Adik (Otters Club) bt Shlok Makhija (Khar Gym) 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-3; 1-Aryan Parekh (Matunga Gym) bt Jash Chheda (Matunga Gym) 11-6, 11-0, 11-0; Boys' U-15: Dev Vazirani (Khar Gym) bt 1-Chaitanya Shah (Bombay Gym) 11-9, 11-9, 11-9; Aryaman Adik (Otters Club) bt Yohann Surti (Willingdon SC) 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 12-10; Boys' U-17: Aishwarya Singh (Jindal SA) bt Basant Singh (Jindal SA) 11-4, 11-9, 11-3; Akhilesh Yadav (Jindal SA) bt Aseem Mehra (Delhi) 11-8, 11-9, 11-7; Boys' U-19: Ankit Acharya (Bombay Gym) bt Nikhil Makhija (Otters Club) 11-7, 11-8, 12-10; Abhishek Agarwal (Jindal) bt Jaganath Kuyte (Jindal) 11-5, 11-8, 11-5.

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