Unseeded Sareen ousts second seed in squash final to lift title

Arnaav Sareen beat second seed Advait Adik in the Maharashtra Squash Rackets Association’s (MSRA) 1st Maharashtra Closed Squash Championship 2019

All’s well that ends well for the unseeded Arnaav Sareen as he managed a remarkable upset victory in the four games against the tournament second seed Advait Adik in the Maharashtra Squash Rackets Association’s (MSRA) 1st Maharashtra Closed Squash Championship 2019 at iSquash Academy courts, Mundhwa on Sunday.

Arnaav Sareen (white) and Advait Adik in action during the first Maharashtra closed squash championship at iSquash Academy courts, Mundhwa, on Sunday. (Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

After losing the first game 11-8, Sareen made a remarkable comeback to win the following games 11-5, 11-8 and 11-4 to oust the second seed.

The contest did not begin as Sareen wanted it, he looked a tad nervy in the first game and eventually lost it 11-8. This gave Adik a momentum boost and an early eye-opener for Sareen. In the second set, Sareen looked a completely different player, playing a more composed brand of squash as he forced his opponent to run around the entire court.

At times, Adik failed to keep up to the high-octane nature of the match and could win only five points. It appeared to be a game of pinball as the third game began with Adik holding the upper hand by going up a few points but Sareen quickly managed to squash the deficit and win the third 11-8.

By the time the fourth game began, it was clear as to who the eventual winner was going to be and Sareen delivered just that by keeping his head in the game and his focus solely on the match.

He saw out the fourth by an 11-4 score and celebrated joyously along with his coach Deepak Moolani after he walked out of the court.

Quotes

Adik: “I feel I got a bit defensive and that is what costed me. I don’t think that Sareen, being a second-seed had added pressure on me, but it wasn’t just my day today.”

Sareen: “I think it was a very good win for me as Adik is a well-established player who made it to the world team last year. After the first game, he started making errors and that really helped me. In the first game, he played really good shots and I wasn’t able to capitalise on whatever openings I was offered. He also began to tire before I did.”