Dixit, Nandrajog crash out, Neel Joshi turns giant-killer

Men’s top seed Ravi Dixit and second seed Gaurav Nandrajog crashed out in the semi-finals on a dramatic day of upsets in the Otters Open Squash Championship, co-sponsored by Citrus, Fenesta and Modi Motors.

While men’s third seed Aditya Jagtap stunned former Asian junior champion Dixit 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 in a swift effort, fourth seed Sandeep Jangra of Services upset Nandrajog of Delhi 911, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 in an entertaining 70-minute encounter.

Nandrajog, who began with supreme confidence, squandered a 2-0 advantage as Jangra initiated a spectacular recovery by using the side walls to good effect, and a rich repertoire of strokes that included delightful drops and nicks, with a backhand nick from the forecourt off the front wall being the shot of the day.

It was a neck-and-neck battle at 7-all in the decider until a determined Jangra broke away to reach matchball at 10-8 and won with another drop.

In more significant reversals, boys’ under-17 top seed Rahul Baitha of Maharashtra and Sankalp Anand of Delhi also made premature exits. While Utkarsh Baheti of Rajasthan shocked Anand 11-2, 11-3, 11-7, Baitha’s campaign ended in the quarter-finals when he went down to Cologne Cup and Dutch Open winner Neel Joshi who turned giant-killer with another upset win over third seed Gautam Nagpal of Delhi in the semi-finals.