Ritwik, Ghosal, Joshna, Deepika for Maharashtra Open

Mumbai: Top Indian players, Ritwik Bhattacharya, Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinnappa and Dipika Pallikkal will vie for top honours in the Rs six lakh prize money 34th HSBC Maharashtra State Open Squash Championship at the Bombay Gymkhana from October 11-18.

Gaurav Nandrajog and Sahil Vora are seeded third and fourth in the men`s event offering the top prize of Rs 1.4 lakh, it was announced at a media conference today. The women`s top prize is worth Rs 50,000. Reigning national champion and the country`s top player Saurav has been billed the favourite to win the men`s crown. He`s expected to face tough fight from second seed and five-time national champion Ritwik who would defend the title he won last year by shocking then world no. 11 Mohd Azlan Iskandar of Malaysia. "The men`s draw would be done on the basis of PSA (Professional Squash Association) events with 16 direct entries and four qualifiers. Ritwik and Saurav, along with Joshna and Deepika, would be coming to play after the Hong Kong Open," Bombay Gymkhana`s Raj Arora said. Eight-time national women`s champion Joshna and her main rival Dipika have been given the top two billings followed by up and coming Saumya Karki and Shria Khatri. The huge discrepancy between the two top prizes was because of the lack of depth in the women`s section, Arora said. Bureau Report