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CCI International 2014
01-06 Jul, Mumbai, India, $25k |
06-Jun, Final:
Qualifier Farag takes CCI title
 Qualifier
Ali Farag of Egypt shocked third seed Nasir Iqbal of
Pakistan in a 3-2 thriller to help himself to the title, in the 2nd
CCI PSA International Squash Championship, at the CCI.
Twenty-two-year-old Farag, ranked 190 in the world, snatched a 11-7,
7-11, 5-11, 11-1, 11-9 win over the Asian senior champion from
Peshawar, in an absorbing championship round that lasted 55 minutes.
Farag, who beat top seed Saurav Ghosal of India in the opening
round, eighth seed Kristian Frost Olesen of Denmark in the
quarter-finals and compatriot and sixth seed Zahed Mohamed in the
semi-finals, completed his giant-killing run with the victory over
Iqbal to end a rewarding campaign.
 The
finalists, who faced each other four years ago in the World Junior
Team final, treated the packed gallery to entertaining squash with
impressive strokes as they stretched the contest right down to the
wire.
Farag, the 2010 junior world and former junior British Open
champion, recovered brilliantly from 1-2 down after winning the
opening set and overcame a late burst from the Pakistan No. 1 to win
the riveting decider by a whisker after leading 6-3.
“It was a very tough match,” said Farag. “He came back by playing
better and smarter especially in the fifth game and all I had to do
was keep going.”
“It was a close match and anybody could have won,” explained Iqbal.
“As much I wanted to win the title, this tournament was very good
for me.”
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  CCI
International 2014
01-06 Jul, Mumbai, India, $25k |
Round One
03 Jul |
Quarters
04 Jul |
Semis
05 Jul |
Final
06 Jul |
[1] Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4
[Q] Ali Farag (Egy) |
[Q] Ali Farag
3-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5
[8] Kristian Frost |
[Q] Ali Farag
11-7, 15-13, 10-12, 11-6.
[6] Zahed Mohamed |
[Q] Ali Farag
11-7, 7-11,
5-11, 11-1, 11-9.
[3] Nasir Iqbal |
[8] Kristian Frost (Den)
11-4, 11-5, 11-5
Jens Schoor (Ger) |
[6] Zahed Mohamed (Egy)
11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 12-10
Ammar Altamimi (Kuw) |
[6] Zahed Mohamed
11-6, 11-7, 2-11, 11-9
[wc] Harinderpal Sandhu |
[4] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
8-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9
[wc] Harinderpal Sandhu (Ind) |
[Q] Shehab Essam Hosny (Egy)
11-1, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9
[3] Nasir Iqbal (Pak) |
[3] Nasir Iqbal
11-5, 11-8, 11-7
[5] Jaymie Haycocks |
[3] Nasir Iqbal
11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10
Mahesh Mangaonkar |
[Q] Kush Kumar (Ind)
12-14, 13-11, 3-11, 11-4, 13-11
[5] Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) |
Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind)
11-9, 11-2, 10-12, 11-4
[7] Chris Gordon (Usa) |
Mahesh Mangaonkar
11-6, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10
[2] Ong Beng Hee |
[Q] Ramit Tandon (Ind)
11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4
[2] Ong Beng Hee (Mas) |
02-Jun, Qualifying Dinals:
Shehab Essam Hosny (Egy) 3-0 Sandeep Jangra (Ins)
11-9, 11-6, 11-8
Kush Kumar (Ind) 3-0 Ravi Dixit (Ind)
11-4, 11-1, 11-5
Ramit Tandon (Ind) 3-1 Vrishab Kotian (Ind)
8-11, 11-1, 11-2, 11-3
Ali Farag (Egy) 3-0 Karim El Hammamy (Egy)
11-4, 11-8, 11-5
01-Jun, Qualifying Round One
Ravi Dixit (Ind) 3-0 Vikas Jangra (Ind)
11-6, 11-7, 11-3
Kush Kumar (Ind) 3-0 Karm Kumar (Ind)
11-7, 11-8, 11-5
Sandeep Jangra (Ind) 3-0 Arjun Agnihotri (Ind)
11-6, 11-2, 11-5
Shehab Essam Hosny (Egy)
bye
Ramit Tandon (Ind) 3-0
Abhimanyu Shah (Ind)
11-4, 11-3, 11-3
Vrishab Kotian (Ind) 3-1
Abhinav Sinha (Ind)
10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9
Ali Farag (Egy) 3-0
Rishad Pandole (Ind)
11-7, 11-5, 11-8
Karim El Hammamy (Egy) 3-1 Gaurav Nandrajog (Ind)
16-14, 6-11,11-6, 14-12
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05-Jun, Semis:
Mangaonkar goes down fighting in semis, Egypt’s Farag enters final
Qualifier Ali Farag of Egypt and Asian Senior champion Nasir Iqbal
of Pakistan fashioned exciting semi-final wins to set up a
championship round clash, in the 2nd CCI PSA International Squash
Championship, at the CCI on Saturday.
Third seed Iqbal of Peshawar endured a determined challenge from
India No. 2 and world No. 75 Mahesh Mangaonkar before registering a
11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10 win in an absorbing contest that lasted 63
eventful minutes.
Farag, who beat top seed Saurav Ghosal of India in the opening round
and eighth seed Kristian Frost Olesen of Denmark in the
quarter-finals, turned giant-killer when he upset compatriot and
sixth seed Zahed Mohamed 11-7, 15-13, 10-12, 11-6 in another
riveting 56-minute battle
Though Mangaonkar lost the first two sets, he sounded an early
warning after surrendering narrowly to the 20-year-old Pakistan No.
1. The Indian ignored his opponent’s reputation and staged a
brilliant
recovery in a neck-and-neck third set in which Iqbal enjoyed two
match points at 10-9 and 11-10.
After forcing the match into the crucial fourth set, Mangaonkar
frittered away envious 7-3 and 8-4 leads as Iqbal crept his way back
into the game to lead 9-8 with five points in a row and snatched the
match with a boast, in a gripping finish.
“It was a very tough match,” admitted Iqbal. “Mahesh is in form,
especially after beating (second seed) Ong Beng Hee in the
quarter-finals. “I controlled the first two sets though I was loose
in the third which gave him a chance to recover. I think in the end
he tired out and that gave me a chance to come back and win it.”
In the earlier semi-final, Farag, ranked 190 in the world, went up
2-0 but not before an early challenge from a determined Mohamed,
ranked 55 in the world. Alexandria-based Mohamed lost a thrilling
second set that stretched well into extra points and kept his hopes
alive when he snatched an equally gripping third that also extended
into extra points, after Farag reached match-point at 10-9.
But Farag, the 2010 junior world and former junior British Open
champion, surged to a substantial lead in the crucial fourth and
held on to take the set and match away.
Earlier, in the quarter-finals, Mangaonkar shocked second seed Ong
Beng Hee of Malaysia 11-6, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10 in a quarter-final that
lasted 61 minutes.
After racing to an envious 2-0 lead Mangaonkar faced a stiff
challenge in the latter half of the match when world No. 30 Beng Hee
extended the contest to the crucial and eventful fourth set. The
Malaysian threatened to stretch the match into the decider while
leading 10-5 but surprisingly lost his way as Mangaonkar crawled
back to snatch the set and match with a stroke over extra points, in
a dramatic finish.
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04-Jun, Quarters:
Mangaonkar shocks Beng Hee
Egypt’s Zahed stops Harinderpal
Mahesh Mangaonkar of India shocked second seed Ong Beng Hee of
Malaysia 3-1 to storm into the semi-finals, in the 2nd CCI PSA
International Squash Championship, at the CCI on Friday.
India No. 2 and world No. 75 Mangaonkar fashioned an exciting 11-6,
11-7, 3-11, 12-10 win over the former world No. 7 in a quarter-final
contest that lasted 61 minutes.
Mangaonkar set up a semi-final clash with Nasir Iqbal of Pakistan
who overcame fifth seed Jaymie Haycocks of England 11-5, 11-8, 11-7.
After racing to an envious 2-0 lead Mangaonkar faced a stiff
challenge in the latter half of the match when world No. 30 Beng Hee
extended the contest to the crucial and eventful fourth set. The
Malaysian threatened to stretch the match into the decider while
leading 10-5 but surprisingly lost his way as Mangaonkar crawled
back to snatch the set and match with a stroke over extra points in
a dramatic finish.
Sixth seed Zahed Mohamed of Egypt fashioned a confident 3-1 win over
Harinderpal Sandhu of India to set up a semi-final clash with
countryman Ali Farag who rallied from 0-2 to upset eighth seed
Kristian Frost Olesen of Denmark 3-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 in
another absorbing quarter-final.
Mohamed, ranked 55 in the world, cruised to a 11-6, 11-7, 2-11, 11-9
win in a quarter-final encounter that lasted 54 minutes and had its
fair share of exciting moments.
The Alexandria-based Mohamed raced to a 2-0 lead in short time but
Harinderpal, ranked 80 in the world, kept his hopes alive by
snatching the third set comfortably with impressive shots that also
allowed the Egyptian to regain his breath.
Harinderpal, who shocked fourth seed and world No. 47 Ali Anwar Reda
of Egypt in the opening round, gave Mohamed a scare when he romped
to a 7-3 advantage in the crucial fourth and raised hopes of a
humdinger. The Indian once again came up with a slew of brilliant
strokes but Mohamed matched the effort with a good measure of
delectable nicks that allowed him to take the lead at 8-7.
It was a neck-and-neck battle in the final stages of the set before
Mohamed, playing the Indian for the first time, unleashed another
nick to take the match away.
“I knew he’s a good player,” said Mohamed of Sporting Club,
Alexandria. “He played really well in the third game and got me
worried again in the fourth when he took that big lead. But I
engaged him in long rallies and waited for him to make the
mistakes.”
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03-Jun, Round One:
Farag stuns Ghosal as Harinderpal and Mangaonkar fashion upsets
Qualifier Ali Farag of Egypt shocked top seed Saurav Ghosal
of India in a 3-2 first round thriller to give the main draw an
explosive start, in the 2nd CCI PSA International Squash
Championship, at the CCI on Thursday.
Farag, the 2010 junior world and former junior British Open
champion, systematically overwhelmed the world No. 16 ranked Indian
10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4 in an eagerly looked-forward to
contest that lasted a good 77 minutes.
The Richter-scale win was the Egyptian’s first ever over Ghosal as
they faced each other for the first time. Farag, ranked 190 in the
world, ignored the 1-2 deficit after dropping the first and third
sets. He launched a late recovery in brilliant fashion with some
memorable shots as he forced the decider in which Ghosal committed a
slew of errors, hitting the tin once too often. Those blemishes by
Ghosal gave Farag an envious and unbelievable 10-3 lead at
match-ball before a verdict that disappointed the favourite and the
packed gallery.
“Saurav’s got a reputation and I knew what to expect. Yes, I was
worried when I was down 1-2. But I played with no pressure at all,
and that made the difference,” said a delighted Farag.
In another first round, qualifier Kush Kumar of India also went down
fighting to fifth seed Jamie Haycocks of England 12-14,
13-11, 3-11, 11-4, 13-11 in a 73-minute thriller. Kumar, who
recently won the under-19 silver in the 21st Asian Junior Individual
Championship in Kish Island, Iran, frittered away a 2-1 advantage
before losing an edge-of-the-seat decider.
Harinderpal Sandhu and Mahesh Mangaonkar later made
amends for the disappointment of the Indians. Mangaonkar upset
seventh seed Christopher Gordon of US 11-9, 11-2, 10-12, 11-4 in 63
minutes to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final with world No. 30
and second seed Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia.
Sandhu rallied from 0-2 to shock fourth seed Ali Anwar Reda of Egypt
8-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 in an 87-minute nail-biter, in the
most riveting match of the day.
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02-Jun, Qualifying Finals:
Kush stuns Dixit to enter main draw
Egypt’s Farag, Hosny through
Kush Kumar shocked Ravi Dixit to storm into the main draw, in the
2nd CCI PSA International Squash Championship, at the CCI on
Wednesday.
Kush, seeded sixth in the qualifiers, overcame his higher ranked
second seeded opponent 11-4, 11-1, 11-5 in the final qualifying
round for one of the earliest surprises in the competition.
Kush, who recently won the under-19 silver after going down to
Tayyab Aslam of Pakistan in the 21st Asian Junior Individual
Championship in Kish Island, Iran, dominated the match from the
start to warm up for an opening round clash in the main draw with
Jaymie Haycocks of England.
In contrast, Shehab Essam Hosny of Egypt halted Sandeep Jangra of
India 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 in a contest that lasted 25 minutes. The
Indian lost in straight sets but not before running Hosny close in
the opening and third sets.
Another Egyptian, Ali Farag overcame his compatriot and world junior
champion Karim El Hammamy 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 in a 39-minute battle.
Farag, the 2010 junior world and former junior British Open
champion, set up a mouth-watering first round with India No. 1 and
world No. 16 Saurav Ghosal.
Ramit Tandon of India joined Kush and Hosny in the main draw that
kicks off on Thursday, following an 8-11, 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 win over
compatriot Vrishab Kotian in a contest that lasted 39 minutes with
the opening set lasting the longest at 15 minutes.
Tandon will face world No. 30 Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia, Harinderpal
Singh Sandhu will take on world No. 47 Mohd. Ali Anwar Reda of Egypt
and Mahesh Mangaonkar will play Christopher Gordon of US in the
first round.01-Jun,
Qualifying Round One:
Nandrajog goes down to
El Hammamy in thriller
Gaurav Nandrajog of India went down fighting to world junior
champion Karim El Hammamy of Egypt in the first qualifying round -
El Hammamy endured a surprise challenge from the former India No. 2
before snatching a hard-fought 16-14, 6-11, 11-6, 14-12 win in a
60-minute thriller that saw the opening set and the crucial fourth
stretch well into extra points.
The Egyptian received an early warning following a tight opener and
Nandrajog did not disappoint the packed gallery. The Indian went on
to snatch the second set and entertained the knowledgeable audience
right through to the eventful fourth.
El Hammamy experienced an error prone fourth set with rare blemishes
when he hit the tin and sent the ball above the sideline on quite a
few occasions to allow Nandrajog recover from 2-6 to 7-all.
Nandrajog engaged El Hammamy in long rallies and forced the latter
into errors as the Indian went on to even lead 8-7 and 9-8 to delay
his opponent’s success.
In contrast, El Hammamy’s compatriot, 2010 junior world and former
junior British Open champion Ali Farag beat Rishad Pandole 11-7,
11-5, 11-8.
Ravi Dixit and Kush Kumar of India kicked off their campaigns with
impressive wins in the first qualifying round.
With Shehab Essam Hosny of Egypt receiving a first round bye, it was
left to the Indians to get the action started as Kush Kumar beat
Karm Kumar 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, Ravi Dixit overcame Vikas Jangra 11-6,
11-7, 11-3 and Sandeep Jangra prevailed over Arjun Agnihotri 11-6,
11-2, 11-5 to set up a final qualifying round clash with Hosny on
Wednesday.
In other first round matches involving all Indians, Ramit Tandon got
the better of Abhimanyu Shah 11-4, 11-3, 11-3.
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CCI 2014 boasts increased prize fund
The Cricket Club of India (CCI) has increased the prize money from
$15k to $25k for the CCI-PSA International Squash Championship to be
played at the club’s squash courts from July 1 to 6.
"I was able to convince the CCI executive committee to increase the
prize money this year itself in order to attract some of the top 30
players in the world,’’ said Naval Pandole, Secretary, Squash
Committee and Vice-Chairman, CCI. The club has excellent
air-conditioned glass courts.
India’s world no 16 player Saurav Ghosal, the promising
Mahesh Mangaonkar, Harinder Pal Sandhu (wild card),
Ravi Dixit, Ramit Tandon, Kush Kumar and many
other Indians will feature in the competition. The top overseas
players include Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee, Egypt’s Ali Anwar
Reda and Kuwait’s Abdullah AlMezayen.
"There is a lack of international squash tournaments in India and
the idea is to have more events and provide exposure to our young
generation players. India has got a lot of talent and we are trying
to make a pathway for the youth,’’ said Pandole.
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