Top seeds Vivaan Sagar, 12, of JBCN School (Borivli) and Kimaayra Jain, 11, of JP Petit School (Fort) advanced to the penultimate rounds in the boys’ and girls’ U-13 competitions respectively in the MSSA inter-school squash tournament at the Bombay Gymkhana courts on Wednesday.
The energetic Vivaan, who celebrated his 12th birthday on a week back (October 25) and was ranked India No. 3 in the boys’ U-11 category last year, showed good match temperament as he staved off a late fight from Yusuf Pardiwala of Campion School (Cooperage), posting a 11-2, 11-9 win in a quarter-final match. “In the first game, I played freely, but in the second, he showed a big improvement and was reading my game and engaged me in long rallies. I was a bit tense and despite leading throughout, I gave away quite a few points. Thankfully, I recovered in time,” Vivaan, who trains under coach Puneet Singh at the Andheri Sports Complex, told mid-day.
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In the girl’s Last-8 encounter, Kimaayra overcame an indifferent start and rallied from a game down to quash the aspirations of Tara Bhandare of The Cathedral & John Connon School (Fort), clinching 7-11, 11-4, 11-3 victory. “I did not expect to lose the first game, but after leading 7-5, a bit of indecisiveness on a return shot proved costly and she went on to win seven consecutive points to take the game. In the next two games, I did not lose focus and went for my shots,” said Kimaayra, who trains at Matunga Gymkhana with coach Sashi Pandey.
