Top stars for Maha Open

Country’s biggest names in squash will be seen in action form Sunday at the Bombay Gymkhana for the 34th edition of the HSBC–Maharashtra State Open Championship. The event will, perhaps, see the strongest men’s field in Mumbai for a very long time in the seven-day tournament that will conclude on October 18.

Reigning national champion and the country’s top-ranked player, Saurav Ghosal, will be the top seed. Ritwik Bhattacharya will join the action at the business end of the tournament.

A five-time national champion, Ritwik, who shocked world No.11 Mohd Azlan Iskandar in last year’s final, is projected to meet Saurav for a mouth-watering title clash. Others who will make up the strong field are Gaurav Nandrajog from New Delhi, former national champion Manish Chotrani and Sahil Vora to name a few.

On the women’s side, Joshna Chinappa, the eight-time national champion, will face challenge from the young Dipika Palikkal. Palikkal has improved significantly over the last 12 months and both she and Joshna will play the Hong Kong Open and arrive in Mumbai to keep their date in the final. Saumya Karki should also be the one to watch out for along with Shria Khatri.

High hopes will be riding on Mahesh Mangaonkar in the junior field as he will return to defend his title. New Delhi’s Karm Kumar will make sure that Mangaonkar’s route to title isn’t easy. The tournament has received close to 600 entries in all. Men’s winner would purse Rs1,40,000 while women’s champion will be richer by Rs50,000.