Squash meet: Baitha fights back to overcome seasoned Jangra

Teenager Rahul Baitha defeated seasoned campaigner Sandeep Jangra 3-2 in five grueling games in the men's quarter-final match of the 4th NSCI All India Open (Junior and Senior) Squash Tournament here Monday.

Baitha (18), who trains with former Indian player Ritwik Bhattacharya, initially found the going tough against Jangra, who, with clever tactics and superb deception, grabbed the first two games, the second after saving four game-ball to enjoy a 2-0 lead.

But the lanky Baitha, representing Maharashtra, showed plenty of resilience and the gumption for a fight as he managed to cut down on the errors to control play and win the next three games to complete a hard-fought 5-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8 and 11-8 win in 56 minutes to book a berth in the semi- finals.

In the last four round, Baitha will clash with top seed Abhishek Pradhan of Maharashtra, who defeated compatriot Abhinav Sinha 11-6, 13-11, 11-2 in another quarter-final encounter.

Earlier, in an all-Maharashtra quarter-final contest, second seed Abhishek Agarwal got the better of Aishwary Singh 11-8, 11-8, 13-11 and will meet Services Naveen Jangra, who tamed his teammate Mehul Kumar 11-4, 11-8, 11-8 to set up a semi-final clash.

Baitha also progressed to boys under-19 semi-final.

The second seed Baitha easily got past Suraj Chand winning in straight games at 11-6, 11-8, 11-6.

Goas Yash Fadte also made into the semi-final defeating Sankalp Anand 11-9, 11-6, 12-10.

In womens first round matches, Rajasthans Oma Choudhary scored a hard-fought win against West Bengals Sano Singhi winning in four games at 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10, and on a side court, Monika Singh of Uttar Pradesh defeated Shibi Batar of Delhi 12-10, 11-6, 11-0.

Results: Men (quarter-finals): Abhishek Pradhan beat Abhinav Sinha 11-6 13-11 11-2; Naveen Jangra beat Mehul Kumar 11-4 11-8 11-8; Abhishek Agarwal beat Aishwary Singh 11-8 11 -8 13-11; Rahul Baitha beat Sandeep Jangra 5-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8.