Top seeds Ritwik Bhattacharya and Joshna Chinappa lived up to their reputations as they retained the men's and women's Open titles respectively, in the 64th CCI-Western India Open Squash Championships, co-sponsored by Lifebuoy, at the CCI on Sunday.
The formidable Bhattacharya showed who is the boss with a 9-7, 9-1, 9-2 triumph over second seed Sandeep Jangra in a final that lasted just 26 minutes.
Bhattacharya, ranked No 72 in the world, took time to settle down as Jangra kept pace until the latter half of the opening game. But once he was focused Jangra looked helpless.
Chinappa overcame England's Mandy Kennedy for the second time in two months following a 3-0 victory in the women's final.
Chinappa, who beat former junior England player Kennedy in the HSBC Maharashtra State Open at the Bombay Gymkhana not too long ago, won 9-5, 9-5, 9-2 in 35 minutes.
Top seed Saumya Karki lived up to her top billing and helped herself to a double crown.
Seeded No.1 in the girls' under-19 and under-15 categories, the 14-year-old Karki was the toast of the finals day as she romped to impressive victories for double delight.
Karki first demolished unseeded Urvashi Joshi 9-1, 9-2, 9-0 for the under-19 title, and later took a little longer to overcome fourth seed Namrata Purohit 9-5, 9-1, 9-3 for the under-15 crown to complete a rewarding day.
Top seed Arun Kochhar did not have it as easy and was forced to toil for the boys' under-13 title in a pulsating championship round against second seed Raghav Mehrotra.
Kochhar, who surged to a comfortable 2-0 advantage and looked set to settle the issue without much ado, surprisingly endured a strong challenge from Mehrotra, who brilliantly came back into the match to force the decider.
But Mehrotra lost his way in the fifth and final game as Kochhar took an early lead and held on to seal a 9-5, 9-5, 4-9, 5-9, 9-4 victory.
Results (All Finals):
Men's Open: Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Sandeep Jangra 9-7, 9-1, 9-2.
Women: Joshna Chinappa (Chennai) bt Mandy Kennedy (England) 9-5, 9-5, 9-2.
Boys' Under-19: Vikram Malhotra vs Aditya Jagtap.
Boys' Under-17: Aditya Jagtap bt Abhishek Pradhan 9-2, 9-7, 9-4.
Boys' Under-15: Abhishek Pradhan bt Mahesh Mangaonkar 9-4, 9-2, 9-4.
Boys' Under-13: Arjun Kochhar bt Raghav Mehrotra 9-5, 9-5, 4-9, 5-9, 9-4.
Boys' Under-11: Yohan Pandole bt Sandeep Paswan 9-3, 9-0, 9-3.
Boys' Under-9: Ben Kennedy bt Ivan Phillip 9-2, 8-10, 9-3, 9-5.
Girls' Under-19: Saumya Karki bt Urvashi Joshi 9-1, 9-2, 9-0.
Girls' Under-15: Saumya Karki bt Namrata Purohit 9-5, 9-1, 9-3.
Professionals: C. Gomez (Mexico) bt Rohit More 9-6, 4-9, 9-5, 9-5.
Over-55: Kishan Lal bt Raj Manchanda 9-2, 4-9, 9-2, 9-3.
