Two squash events – the 43rd Maharashtra state men’s squash tournament and third Indian classic junior open squash tournament – are set to be held at the Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai from August 6 to 15. The events are being organised by the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) and Maharashtra Squash Rackets Association.
The junior event is an Asian Squash Federation gold event and carries Asian ranking points. The Indian Junior squash circuit 5-star tournament will have 10 different categories and will be held from August 11 to 15. It will also have equal prize money in both men’s and women’s, which is a first at this event, Championship Director Sumeet Rewari told reporters in Mumbai.
The organisers have received 513 entries for the Indian Junior Classic Squash tournament, making it one of the biggest international tournaments in India in terms of participation. The junior tournament has received one entry from Colombia as well, in the Under-11 boys category. The categories for the tournament are – Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, Under 17 and Under-19 (each for Boys and Girls),
The tournament will feature almost all of the top-ranked juniors in India, including Yash Fadte, who at 16, was the top seed at the recently concluded WSF-World Junior Squash Championships held in Chennai.
The Maharashtra squash tournament will see players compete in five different categories – men’s open, men’s over 35, men’s over 45, men’s over 55 and professionals. Being played for the 43rd consecutive year, Rewari said it is the second oldest squad tournament in India after the Western Open played at CCI, also in Mumbai.
The top-seed in the men’s event is Mahesh Mangaonkar, who is the currently ranked number 3 in India.
The state championship offers a total prize money of Rs 5.25 lakh with the winner in the men’s event getting richer by Rs 1.30 lakh while the runner’s up will take home Rs 75,000. The tournament director said that this was the highest prize money for a squash tournament in India, after the senior nationals.