Cathedral’s Tara rallies to win opener

The Cathedral & John Connon’s Tara Bhandare with her aunt Rhea at the Bombay Gymkhana courts yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Tara Bhandare, 11, of The Cathedral & John Connon School (Fort), with support from her aunt Rhea Bhandare, a former Indian squash player and junior girls' national champion, produced a gallant fighting performance to overcome the first hurdle, defeating Divyana Chikhal of Jamnabai Narsee HS (Juhu) 5-11, 11-8, 11-1 in a girls' U-13 opening round match of the MSSA inter-school squash tournament at the Bombay Gymkhana courts on Tuesday.

The sprightly Tara was cool and confident and did not look flustered despite having to come off the court to fix a problem with her protective eyewear which came lose before the start of her match. Tara was slow to get off the blocks as Divyana raced to a 6-0 lead.

She continued to call the shots and reached game point before. Tara then won four successive points, but could not stop Divyana from winning the next point to take the opening game.

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A pep talk from aunt Rhea during the break brought about a huge transformation in Tara's game. She was more positive with her strokes and gradually took control and began dictating the rallies to accumulate points, helping her win the second game.

In the decider, Tara was in full flow and with Divyana making too many unforced errors, she won it comfortably in the end. "I lost the first game, but with advice and instructions from my aunt Rhea, I was able to fight back and win this first-round match. This is my first MSSA tournament. I hope to reach the final," Tara told mid-day after her win.

Results:
Girls' U-11: Sanaya Amit Gajria bt Shanaya Parsampuria 11-4, 7-11, 11-9; Aeva Parekh bt Rahini Chheda 11-5, 11-1; Miraya Trehan bt Prisha Khedekar 13-11, 11-4; Samaira Shah bt Alekha Jalan 13-11, 6-11, 11-6. Girls' U-13: Aariana Shah bt Saachi Bafna 11-0, 11-2; Tarini Chandra bt Aarya Khedekar 11-2, 11-2; Ira Jain bt Amaira Goenka 11-4, 11-2.