Otters Club Vedanta Squash Open from 9th April


India’s leading players to feature in the PSA Satellite 3 Star tournament

MumbaiThe Otters Club squash courts are set to buzz with activity and will witness top-quality action from India’s leading senior and junior squash players who will vie for top honors in the Otters Club Vedanta Squash Open, to be organized by 5 Sports, in association with Otters Club at their glass-back squash courts from April 9 to 13, 2019.  Due to the overwhelming response Khar Gymkhana will also be hosting the first 2days of the tournament. The Otters Club Vedanta Squash Open is a PSA satellite event and a 3-Star tournament on the Indian Junior squash circuit.

The tournament is sponsored by Vedanta and organized by 5 sports while Otters Club is the venue partner. Both the events will be organized under the aegis of Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), Maharashtra Squash Rackets Association (MSRA) and Professional Squash Association (PSA), World body for squash. Given the tournament is a PSA satellite event this will help the professional players to score points on the PSA circuit.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairperson Vedanta said, “Vedanta is actively working towards making India a powerhouse for sports. We are doing this through various grass-root level sports development initiatives. In addition to our strong presence in football, we are very pleased to associate with this squash tournament, especially with added focus on young players in the competition. We hope many of the competing boys and girls will go on to do our country proud at the global stage, and in turn encourage more youngsters to pursue sports as a serious career option.”

Adding to the conversation Mr Annanya Agarwal, President Vedanta Sports Said, "Indian squash is indeed going places with our men and women players making their mark on the global stage, and we are extremely happy to associate with the Otters Club Vedanta Squash Open. It is great that the tournament is giving an opportunity for young girls and boys to play competitive squash at the highest level, apart from the women's and men's open. The field for the event looks really strong and competitive across all the categories, and we are surely in for an exciting tournament." 

The junior tournament has attracted entries from leading Indian players. According to the Championship Director Srikanth Seshadri, the event has received 446 entries across the categories of Boys and Girls under 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 and Men & Women.

The Tournament has a total prize fund of Rs 5 lakh, from which Rs 3 lakh is allotted for the juniors, while Rs 2 lakh is up for grabs among the open category. Maharashtra has the highest number of participants with 262 entries, while the tournament will also see substantial participation from Delhi, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, among others.

Elaborating on the tournament Rhea Bhandare, Co-Founder, 5 Sports said, “The Otters Club Vedanta Squash Open is only our 3rd endeavor at conducting a national/international squash tournament but the response from the squash fraternity has been overwhelming. We have got close to 450 entries from 23 different states and the level of play that will be demonstrated from 9th to 13th of April 2019 is surely going to be worth witnessing as the participants registered under each category are amongst the best players in the country.”

Jay Jhaveri, Co-Founder, 5 Sports further added “We have got a great field in the senior category with the top men and women players participating in the first edition. Vijay Kumar and Ranjit singh will lead the field for men while India no 3 & 5 Urvashi Joshi and Sachika Balvani are top seeded in the women’s category. We are grateful to Vedanta for their support and we wish to make this tournament a regular occurrence on the Indian Squash Circuit”

Services lead the men’s field with India No 7 and 9 Vijay Kumar and Ranjit Singh on the top of the seeding list followed by India no 10 Jamal Sakib, who is seeded in the 5/8 bracket. Abhishek Agarwal of Maharashtra is seeded in the 3/4 bracket.  

In the women’s draw, India No 3 Urvashi Joshi and India No 5 Sachika Balvani of Maharashtra are the top two seeds. India No 12 Aradhana Kasturiraj is the 3rd seed and India No 10 Sanya Vats, who is currently No. 1 in the juniors ranking are placed in the 5/8 bracket.

In the Boys U-19 draw, India No. 4 & 5, Veer Chotrani and Tushar Sahani of Maharashtra lead the field, followed by India No. 11 Deepak Mandal in third place.

Jannia Singh of Chandigarh, who won an Otters Club tournament last August, will lead the Girls U-19 field followed by Tanaya M Parakh of West Bengal. Amira Singh and Bhavana Goyal are the joint 3rd and 4th seeds. 15 year old Ashiwarya Khuchandani seeded in the 5/8 bracket will be competing with the Top U-19 players.

Seeding list:
Men: Vijay Kumar,1 Ranjit Singh, 2, Abhishek Agarwal, 3/4 , Jamal Sakib 5/8, Gaurav Nandrajog 5/8, Guhan Senthilkumar 5/8, Naveen Jangra 5/8, Rahul Baitha 9/16, Abhinav Sinha 9/16    

Women:  Urwashi Joshi (Mah) 1, Sachika Balvani 2,  Aaradhana Kasturiraj 3/4 , Sanya Vats5/8, Chayanika Changkakoti 5/8, Divyakriti Singh 5/8, Prapti Salunkhe 5/8, Radhika Rathore 5/8

Boys’ U-19: Veer Chotrani 1, Tushar Shahani 2, Deepak Mandal 3/4, Saksham Choudhary 5/8, Aarash Mehta 5/8, Avinash Yadav 5/8, Diwakar Singh 5/8, Vivaan Jaikishan 9/16, Abhishek Kumar 9/16,           

Girls’ U-19: Jannia Singh 1, Tanaya M Parakh 2, Amira Singh 3/4 ,Bhavana Goyal 3/4, Aishwarya Khubchandani 5/8, Anjali Devi 5/8, Anjali Kumari 5/8, Rewa Bharma 5/8

About 5 Sports
5 Sports creates squash & fitness programs where coaching is conducted by World Squash Federation (WSF) accredited coaches for toddlers, beginners, intermediate and advance level players. The company also provides nutrition & mind management services. It looks to empower today’s youth and adults with sporting skills, to create an impact on day to day lives through over all fitness, to produce champions on and off court and lastly, to increase accessibility to sports. 5 Sports also manages & conducts tournaments at national & international levels with Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), Professional Squash Association (PSA), Maharashtra Squash Rackets Association (MSRA), Indian Squash Professional (ISP), & Asian Squash Federation (ASF). 5 Sports also conducts a unique All Star Summer program where, top players of India like Saurav Goshal, Mahesh Mangaonkar, Joshna Chinappa and others coach children and adults, while sharing some world class experience over the summer camp.

Rhea Bhandare partner & co-founder of 5 Sports was a four-time Indian Junior National Squash Champion. She has represented India at the Asian Junior Squash Championship and Pre-Common Wealth Games. She was ranked world no 3 in the junior category. Academically Rhea has as a B.A. degree from the Ivy League, University of Pennsylvania (UPENN), U.S, and has previously worked with some prominent establishments in the corporate world across management consulting, public relations and retail.

Jay Jhaveri, partner and co-founder of 5 Sports is an avid squash player himself. He has been the convener of the squash department at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) for 5 years till early 2018. The squash academy which was set up under his guidance and leadership at NSCI included over 150 children and adults, 5 head coaches, 10 assistant coaches and several fitness, mental and yoga trainers. During his time at NSCI national and international tournaments were organized under his guidance.

About Vedanta Ltd: Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading diversified natural resource companies with business operations in India, South Africa, Namibia and Australia. Vedanta is a leading producer of Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Aluminum, Steel and Commercial Power.
Governance and Sustainable Development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and on enhancing lives of the local communities. The company is conferred with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) ‘Sustainable Plus Platinum label’, ranking among the top 10 most sustainable companies in India. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For further information, please contact: Mr. Arun Arora: arun.arora@cairnindia.com.  For more information please visit www.vedantalimited.com

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