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Mandy Kennedy of England made the tournament her own when she bagged the women's crown following another shock 9-5, 9-0, 9-7 victory over second seed Alisha Mashruwalla of Maharashtra in the Otters Open, which was concurrently held with the PSA Open. Much was expected from Alisha back from the US but unfortunately her game seems to have stagnated and the final was a tame affair.

Making her debut in the competition at 38, Mandy, who surprised top seed Surbhi Misra of Rajasthan in the quarter-finals and No 5 Harita Omprakash in the semi-finals, completed her giant-killing spree to help herself to the winner's purse of Rs 20,000 (approx $426). 

''I did not know what to expect. I do not really play tournaments, so this was nerve-wracking. I beat the No 1 and No 5 seeds the other day and Alisha is No 2. So I am very happy. I played well in patches. My serve was more effective and my drop shots were better,'' explained an excited Mandy after the match, watched by her husband Simon, and kids Ben and Megan. 

If Mandy was the 'queen' from England, Vikram Malhotra of Mumbai was the 'prince' after clinching a double crown following contrasting victories in the boys' under-19 and under-17 finals. 

The H R College lad was taken the distance after trailing 1-2 and claimed the under-19 title with a 3-9, 9-2, 3-9, 9-3, 9-1 victory over Parth Sharma of Rajasthan. 

Parth was the favourite playing the best squash he has ever played and was on a giant killing spree having beaten current Junior National Champion Sandeep Jhangra twice in this tournament. He also demolished the much fancied Manek Mathur in straight games in the quarter finals conceeding only 8 points in the entire match. His dream run however came to an end when he ran into the mercurial and extremely talented and now fitter Vikram Malhotra in the finals.

As top seed, Vikram later returned to demolish second seed Laxman Joshi 9-3, 9-0, 9-0 for under-17 title. 

Harinderpal Sandhu of Chennai won the Men's Open crown after beating Vikas Jangra 9-7, 9-6, 9-0. Earlier in the semifinals Harinder scalped the top seed Gaurav Nandrajog in a hard fought match which saw Gaurav getting extremely frustrated and running out of ideas.

India’s top juniors, Sandeep Jhangra, Harindar Pal Sandhu, Vikram Malhotra, Parth Sharma and Naresh Kumar have set the alarm bells ringing for the seniors giving a clear indication that their time has come. 

Number one seed Ravi Dixit of Chennai earned the boys under-15 title after a marathon 10-9, 6-9, 9-10, 9-4, 9-3 victory over a determined second seed Aditya Jagtap in a thriller. 

Results :

PSA Otters Open: Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0). 
Men's Open: Harinder Sandhu (Chennai) bt Vikas Jangra (Mah) 9-7, 9-6, 9-0. 
Boys U-19: Vikram Malhotra (Mah) bt Parth Sharma (Chennai) 3-9, 9-2, 3-9, 9-3, 9-1. 
Boys U-17: Vikram Malhotra(Mah) bt Laxman Joshi (Mah) 9-3,9-0,9-0. 
Boys U-15: Ravi Dixit (Chennai) bt Aditya Jagtap (Mah) 10-9, 6-9, 9-10, 9-4, 9-3. 
Boys U-13: Mahesh Mangaokar (Mah) bt Abhishek Pardhan (Mah) 9-6, 9-2, 9-10, 9-3. 
Boys U-11: Kush Kumar (Del) bt Arjun Kochhar (Mah) 9-4, 9-4, 9-4. 
Women's Open: Mandy Kennedy (England) bt Alisha Mashruwala (Mah) 9-5, 9-0, 9-7. 
Girls U-17: Surbi Mishra (Raj) bt Shivangi Paranjpe (Mah) 9-7, 9-7,9-5. 
Girls U-13: Saumya Karki(Mah) bt Sachika Balwani(Mah) 9-7,10-9,9-5. 
Men's Over-35: Rohit Thawani (Mah) w/o Deepak Kochhar (Mah) 
Men's Over-45: Vaman Apte (Mah) bt Deepak Kochhar (Mah) 6-9, 9-3, 4-9, 9-3, 9-3. 
Professionals: Balamurgan(Chennai) bt Rohit More(Mah) 9-2,9-6,9-0.
  
South Asian Games 
Joshna best in South Asia
Take away Malaysia and Hong Kong and our women are among the best in Asia. That was proved when Joshna Chinappa won the women's title at the South Asian Federation Games in Sri Lanka. Joshna was lucky that Carla Khan was not fit to play the entire event. Or she may have made it tough for her. Carla is ranked higher than Joshna in the WISPA rankings.

In the final Joshna beat her Chennai teammate Deepika Pallikal . Pakistan's other girls like Maria Toor are coming up slowly but surely. But they will take time. Till then the No 2 spots will be Sri Lanka’s who had both the semi-finalists the - Guruge sisters.

In the men's Pakistan ruled the roost. Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghoshal did not play as they were preparing for the World Open in Egypt. India sent Gaurav Nandrajog and Harinderpal Sandhu who reached as far as the semi-finals losing to the finalists Mansoor Zaman and Amir Atlas.		  

Dipika Pallikal, Joshna Chinappa, Nirasha Guruge, Tehani Guruge showing off their medals at the prize distribution function.
Left-hander Zaman, the world No.28 from Peshawar, faced 16-year-old compatriot Aamir Atlas Khan. Second seed Khan shocked his more experienced top-seeded opponent by taking a 2/1 lead in the final but Zaman regained his composure to win 9-5, 7-9, 4-9, 9-2, 9-0 to retain the title he won two years ago in Islamabad, his home city.

Results :

Men's Final: Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 9-5, 7-9, 4-9, 9-2, 9-0
Semi-finals: Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) 9-0, 9-2, 9-2 
Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) 9-2, 9-3, 9-3 

Women's Final: Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt Dipika Pallikal (IND) 9-6, 9-6, 9-1 
Semi-finals: Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt Tehani Guruge (SRI) 9-3 9-0,9-5 
Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt Nirasha Guruge (SRI) 9-7, 9-6, 9-3

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