Mumbai: Mahesh Mangaonkar, who finished seventh in last year's British Open for juniors, is among the leading participants in the Rs 2.69-lakh prize money Little Masters Junior Squash Tournament, to be held at the Willingdon Sports Club, Mahalaxmi here from January 12-16.
Mangaonkar, globally ranked 50th among under 17 boys, has been seeded number one in the under-17 as well as under-19 groups in the tournament, which has events for under-19, 17, 15, 13 and 11 for both boys and girls.
India's top junior Saumya Karki heads the seedings in the girls' under-19 section.
The tournament has attracted 275 entries, with most out-of-state entries coming in from Tamil Nadu, said Ajoy Bhandare of the Willingdon Club at a press conference today.
Among the fancied players from Tamil Nadu are S Velavan and R Aditya, the top and fourth seeds in under-13 boys, S Guhan and Velavan in under-15 in which they are the top two seeds, and Sai Meera and Aishwarya Nambiar – seeded two and three behind Saumya in under-19 girls group.
The boys' winner of the under-19 event will take home Rs 40,000 while the corresponding girls' champion would be richer by Rs 25,000.
The club will bid for the junior nationals scheduled later this year and also has plans to construct glass-backed courts, Bhandare said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 07, 2011, 19:08