Giant-killer Thakker stuns Hemrajani

Priyaan Thakker turned giant-killer when he shocked third seed Raayan Hemrajani to storm into the boys’ under11 championship round, in the GSC-Syska Open Squash Tournament, organised by Indian Squash Professionals, at the Goregaon Sports Club on Tuesday.

On an action packed day of close encounters that went down to the wire, Thakker, who stunned second seed Vedant Chheda in the quarterfinals, rallied to another thrilling win when he recovered from 0-2 to snatch a 7-11, 0-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-2 verdict to set up a final clash with top seed Anshuman Jaising.

Thakker set the trend for more exciting action as boys’ under-17 top seed Avinash Yadav and fourth seed Arjun Singh set up the championship round following thrilling wins. Yadav was stretched by third seed Yohann Fali Poncha before winning 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 1513, while Singh, twice in arrears, rallied to upset second seed Araash Mehta 8-11, 11-8, 411, 11-6, 11-6.

Top seed Aditya Maheshwari and second seed Amitpal Singh Kohli ended a memorable day of squash after winning thrillers to set up the men’s over-35 final. Maheshwari halted fourth seed Karan Mirchandani 4-11, 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, while Kohli beat third seed Anil Bhagat 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 14-12 in a gripping finish.

Top seed Abhishek Agarwal and third seed Puneet Pareek eased into the men’s final for an all-JSW contest.