Mixed fortunes for Saumya Karki

Sixteen-year old Saumya Karki had a memorable tournament at the Maharashtra State Open Squash tournament at the Bombay Gymkhana on Saturday.

The youngster was in three finals and had the unusual opportunity of playing the same opponent Urvashi Joshi in two of the three finals. Her third final was against national champion Joshna Chinappa.

Karki romped to a 3-0 victory in both her encounters against Joshi. In the women’s final, Karki seemed undaunted by her experienced opponent who had come fresh from her Commonwealth Games experience as all the games were tightly contested. Chinappa eventually won 11-8 12-10 11-9.

In the men’s final, Choong Kam Hing of Malaysia defeated city lad Mahesh Mangaonkar in 35 minutes winning 11-8 11-7 11-7. After snatching the opening two games Hing relaxed his grip for a while and trailed 4-7 in the third. But he quickly recovered to win seven points in a row to take away the game and match.

Mangaonkar made amends for his mens’ defeat, by winning the boys U-19 title, He upset top seed Sandeep Jhangra 7-11 11-6 11-7 12-10. Another notable performer was Aishwarya Bhattacharya, who clinched the girls’ U-13 and U-15 titles.