Squash: Chotrani, Anahat Emerge Champions

Maharashtra's Veer Chotrani and Delhi's Anahat Singh maintained their imperious form in the tournament, right till the end, lifting the men's and women's singles titles in the 6th NSCI Open National Circuit squash tournament, here on Wednesday.

Chotrani, who didn't drop a game throughout the tournament was once again in total control of the title match against the second seed Suraj Chand.

Chotrani, who is studying at Cornell University, does not play in National level tournaments throughout the year, which explains his relatively low ranking of No.16 in the country.

However, he possessed a wider repertoire of strokes, which he used to his benefit right from the start, putting pressure on the defensive game of Suraj. Suraj tried to engage Chotrani in long rallies, but Chotrani waited patiently to pounce on the first loose ball he got to always keep his neck ahead and prevail 11-9, 11-8, 11-6.

The women's final was also a one-sided affair with Anahat, the talented 15-year-old from Delhi, a part of the Indian Commonwealth squash team, never in trouble against the top seed Urwashi, winning 11-7, 11-8, 11-3.

Maharashtra's Akanksha Gupta (3/4) pulled off an upset in the Girls U-17 final, beating top seed Navya Sundararajan (UP) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8.