Top seeds Vivaan Sagar, Kimaayra Jain cruise into semis

JBCN’s Vivaan Sagar during his U-13 quarter-final yesterday (right) JP Petit School’s Kimaayra Jain. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

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.

Also read: Mumbai Masters squash from today at Willingdon

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.