MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 15: Services players made their presence felt at the Rs 4,50,000 prize money 25th HSBC Maharashtra State Open Squash Championships, booking four of the eight quarter-final slots up for grabs in the open event at the glass-back courts of the Bombay Gymkhana, on Wednesday.The action-filled day also witnessed a major upset, with Junaid Nathani, the second seed in the boys under-19 category, losing to unseeded Varun Kataruka from Delhi in the quarter-finals. Nathani, the losing finalist at the Nationals this year to Bikram Uberoi, lost in five games, 9-5, 7-9, 9-3, 8-10, 9-3, ending his miserable run in this tournament. He had lost in the open event on Tuesday.Nathani seemed to have fallen prey to over-confidence. He lost the first game after leading 5-1, then collected himself to win the second 9-7. No amount of partisan support could wake him from his stupor as walked around in the third to lose it 3-9. Then came about another reversal as he fought tooth and nail to win the fourth 10-8, but that was all. His legs just couldn't carry him any further and he lost the decider tamely at 3-9. The top four seeds in the open event, Manish Chotrani, Capt Navneet Narain, Bikram Uberoi and Capt Anuj Kalia booked their quarter-final slots with easy victories.Results: Open (PQF): Manish Chotrani bt Varun Kataruka 9-3, 9-5, 9-1; Cyrus Poncha bt Santosh More 9-2, 9-6, 9-7; Capt. Ajay Chonkar bt Capt. S. Bisht 9-5, 6-9, 10-8, 9-4; Capt. Anuj Kalia bt Amitpal Kohli 10-9, 9-1, 9-1; Bikram Uberoi bt Mahesh Verma 9-6, 9-1, 9-5; Vishal Kapoor bt Gaurav Bhandari 9-7, 6-9, 10-9, 10-9; Lt. Com. Sandeep Mehta bt Lt. Mohindra 9-2, 9-4, 9-0; Capt. Naveneet Narain bt Abhimanyu Jain 9-5, 9-1, 10-9. Boys U-11 (SF): Vir Seth bt Naveen Jangra 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Jay Dalal bt Ishaan Balwani 9-5, 10-8, 9-7. Boys U-13 (QF): Sandeep Jangra bt Joran Diwan 9-0, 9-5, 9-1; Naishadh Lawani bt Nikhil Seth 9-5, 9-2, 9-2; Jay Bhagat bt Nitin Chauhan 9-2, 9-4, 9-0; Manek Mathur bt Vikram Malhotra 10-8, 9-7, 9-7. Boys U-15 (QF): Saurav Ghosal bt Gautam Kalani 9-0, 9-2, 9-4; Sandeep Jangra bt Sadiq Madraswala 10-9, 7-9, 9-4, 9-4; Aditya Majrekawr bt Arun Sharma 9-5, 9-0, 9-5; Rigesh Sharma bt Hrishikesh Pendse 9-6, 9-2, 9-4. Boys U-19 (QF): Vishal Kapoor bt Neerav Tomar 10-9, 9-6, 9-7; AbhimanyuJain bt Sahil Vora 10-9, 9-5, 9-1; Gaurav Mandrajog bt Supreet Singh 9-6, 9-4, 9-3; Varun Kataruka bt Junaid Nathani 9-5, 7-9, 9-3, 8-10, 9-3.Girls U-13 (QF): Sahnaz Dastur bt Nikita Emanuel 9-5, 10-9, 9-3; Shweta Singh bt Shivangi Loyalekar 9-7, 9-7, 9-4; Shailee Shilke bt Madhura Paranjpe 9-6, 9-0, 10-9. U-15 (QF): Alisha Mashruvala bt Shweta Singh 9-1, 9-0, 9-0; Shailee Shilke bt Shahnaz Dastur 9-1, 9-6, 7-9, 9-7; Liana Deboo bt Shivangi Loyalekar 9-1, 9-1, 9-1; Natasha Lall bt Shaheen Hasnain 9-0, 9-0, 9-1.Professionals (QF): Dalip Tripathi (Allahabad) bt Ramesh More 9-0, 9-5, 9-5; CS Pawar bt Anant More 9-7, 10-8, 8-10, 4-9, 9-2; Santosh More bt Vijay Sonawane 2-9, 9-2, 9-5, 9-6; Balamurugan (Chennai) bt Mahesh Verma (Deolali) 10-8, 6-9, 9-1, 5-9, 9-4.
