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It was a good day for the Indian girls in the U-13 category, with all of them moving into the top 16 barring Shria Khatri, who is indisposed. Aparajitha, Anaka and Sachika won easily, but Saumya and Ankita had to contend with five-game duels.
Mahesh Mangaonkar, the only Indian boy playing in the quarterfinals at the British Junior Open squash, went down fighting to Pakistan's Nematullah Khan in straight games. It seemed a hard morning match had taken its toll on Mahesh as he was unable to pull through.
Earlier in the day, Mahesh defeated Egyptian Ahmed Abdel Latif 4-9, 2-9, 9-3, 9-2, 9-4 in a 45-minute duel to ensure his berth in the quarterfinal. Mahesh showed his guts when he came back from two games down hitting great lengths and delightful drops, making Ahmed scamper all around the court and forcing him to make the errors.
'So near, yet so far' was the feeling in the Indian camp after the boys U-15 round of 16 matches. Ravi Dixit played some amazing squash against Egyptian Mohd El Sherbeny but was unable to close the match despite leading 8-6 in the fifth game. Ravi looked in control throughout the match but made unforced errors at crucial moments.
Ramit Tandon, playing the higher ranked Charles Sharpes from England, was 8-2 up with the match tied at one game apiece. Charles hit his way out of trouble with the help of four rolling nicks and three perfect drives. In the fourth, Ramit clawed back from 0-6 to take the lead 7-6, but unfortunately it was just one of those days for the Indians and he too could not convert his lead. Aditya Jagtap went down fighting to top seeded Amr Khalid
Khalifa.
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The results: |
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Boys U-13
Round of 16 |
Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Ahmed Abdel Latif 4-9,2-9, 9-3, 9-2, 9-4 {45m} |
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Boys U-13
Quarterfinal |
Nematullah Khan bt Mahesh Mangaonkar 9-5, 10-9, 10-8 |
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Boys U-15
Round of 16 |
Mohamed E Isherbeny (Egy) bt Ravi Dixit 9-3,7-9,4-9,9-5,10-80 {69m} |
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Boys U-15
Round of 16 |
Charles Sharpes (Eng) bt Ramit Tandon 9-4,5-9,10-8,9-7 {47m} |
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Boys U-15
Round of 16 |
Amr Khalid Khalifa (Egy) bt Aditya Jagtap 9-2, 9-2, 9-2 {26m} |
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Girls U-13
Round 2 |
Aparajitha Balamurukan bt Eleanor Eppke (Eng) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1 |
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Girls U-13
Round 2 |
Sachika Balvani bt Natalie Machin (Eng) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0 |
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Girls U-13
Round 2 |
Anaka Alankamony bt Emma Payne (Eng) 9-2, 9-0, 9-0 |
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Girls U-13
Round 2 |
Saumya Karki bt Hayul Lala (Egy) 9-4, 8-10, 3-9, 9-2, 9-6 |
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Girls U-13
Round 2 |
Shria Khatri lost to Emily Whitlock (Eng) 1-9, 1-9, 2-9 |
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Girls U-15
Round 2 |
Ankita Sharma bt Julia Lecoq 9-1, 9-6, 6-9, 5-9, 9-1 {46m} |
R Rangaraj
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