Pradhan dethrones Nandrajog

Abhishek Pradhan dethroned Gaurav Nandrajog as the men's champion while Aparajitha Balamurukan took home the women's title in the Sports XL Century Bangalore squash Open at the Bangalore Club here on Wednesday.

India ranked five Pradhan and seeded first in the tournament, registered a fighting 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9 win over Nandrajog in the title round.

Top seed Aparajitha from Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, didn't have to struggle so hard as she brushed aside Maharashtra's Sanika Choudhari, the second seed, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7.

"It was my first tournament in Bengaluru, I've been here once but that was a short visit. This was an amazing event. I loved every minute of it and next year I'll definitely be back here (to defend my title)," said Pradhan who is travelling to Jaipur next week to participate in an International tournament.

Up against the defending champion Nandrajog, Pradhan didn't have the best of starts as he fell behind 1-3, but just when the game appeared to be going out his hand, the Mumbaikar found his rhythm to lead 6-3.

He continued to widen the gap with some neat shots to get to a comfortable position at 9-3. He, however, committed an error soon which gave the Delhiite some breathing space, and he won four points on the trot to reduce the deficit to 9-7. Still, with a two-point lead, Pradhan didn't make any more mistakes to claim the first game 11-7.

The second game was no different as Pradhan picked up from where he left to win by the same margin. During this period, Nandrajog, who had expressed his anguish against some of the decisions, was warned by the match referee.

Trailing by two games, Nandrajog upped his ante in the third. He was behind 4-6 but fought back brilliantly after Pradhan committed an error to win the game 11-8.

In the fourth game, Pradhan and Nandrajog went toe-to-toe with each other till 9-9 but the Mumbaikar produced some fantastic shots to snatch the crown.

Results: All finals: Men: 1-Abhishek Pradhan (MH) bt 3/4-Gaurav Nandrajog (DL) 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9.

Boys: U-19: 3/4-Diwakar Singh (UP) bt 1-Navaneeth Prabhu S (TN) 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3.

U-17: 5/8-Rutva Samant (MH) bt 3/4-Raunak Singh (MH) 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6.

U-15: 1-Tavneet Singh Mundra (MP) bt 5/8-Ashvin Ganesh (TN) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4.

U-13: 3/4-Gurveer Singh (DL) bt 9/16-Arnav Nadkarni (MH) 16-14, 13-11, 11-4.

U-11: 1-Darshil Parasrampuria (TN) bt 3/4-Savir Sood (CH) 11-3, 11-8, 11-6.

Women: 1-Aparajitha Balamurukan (TN) bt 2-Sanika Choudhari (MH) 11-6, 11-7, 11-7.

Girls: U-17: 2-Yuvna Gupta (MH) bt 3/4-Diksha Aurobindo (TN) 12-10, 11-5, 11-7.

U-15: 2-Deepika V (TN) bt 3/4-Advita Sharma (DL) 11-5, 13-11, 11-1.

U-13: 5/8-Diya Yadav (MH) bt 3/4-Akanksha Gupta (MH) 11-6, 11-0, 11-7.

U-11: 1-Vyomika Khandelwal (MH) bt 3/4-Anika Dubey (MH) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8.

Men over 35: 3/4-Sanjay Pawar (MH) bt 1-Amitpal Kohli (MH) 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8.

Men over 45: 5/8-Jay Asundi (KA) bt 3/4-Yudhvir Yudhvir (MH) 11-4, 11-1, 11-8.