Squash: Madras varsity champions again

University of Madras won the All-India Inter-University Squash Championship for Women with a 3-0 win over hosts Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal at Marena (indoor sports complex of the University) on Friday.

In the match for placings, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, finished third with a 3-1 win over Savitribai Phule University Pune.

The University of Madras with a talented bunch of players recorded their fourth straight win in the championships. With an international player and others from the Squash Academy in Chennai, the Madras team is formidable and far superior to all teams in this level of competition.

MAHE, runners-up last year, found the going tough and only the third player, Sukrita, put up a semblance of a fight. She tried hard but her opponent Kritica J S, one of the players from the Academy, was a tough nut to crack. Despite that, Sukrita fought well in the first two games. But Kritica with her superior game provided University of Madras the championship.

In the first match, Ayan took a game off Shivani V and raised some hope for MAHE. After losing the first game at 4, Ayan came back strongly to win the second 11-9. That did not ruffle Shivani who put University Madras one match up winning the next two games comfortably at 11-4, 11-4.

The second Madras player Rathika S made short work of Muskaan, who never could pull her game together. Rathika dropped four points in the first game and in the other two Muskan did not even open her account. In the match for third and fourth placings, Pt Ravishankar Shukla University Raipur overcame a poor start to finish third.

MAHE Pro Chancellor MAHE Dr H S Ballal presented the prizes.

Final results

University of Madras Beat Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 3-0:
Shivani V beat Ayan 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4. Rathika S beat Muskaan 11-2, 11-0, 11-0. Kritica JS beat Surita 11-7, 11-5, 11-4.
Match for third and fourth places Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur beat Savitribai Phule University 3-1:
Rdhika Parab (Savitribai) beat Priya Vishwakarma 11-1, 11-2, 11-4. Nidhi D (Pt Ravishankar) beat Priyanka Mantri 7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 12-10. Prerna Rajpoot (Pt Ravishankar) beat Palrika mohan 11-5, 11-4, 11-6. Nishita Tewari (Pt. Ravishankar) beat Shubhangini Pandey 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9.