Ananya Narayanan advances to second round of Chennai Squash PSA Challenger Tour
Chennai, July 11
India's Ananya Narayanan recovered from a game down to defeat compatriot Janet Vidhi in four games and book her place in the second round of the women's draw at the Squash PSA Challenger Tour-Chennai at the Indian Squash Academy here on Saturday.
After dropping the opening game 8-11, Ananya responded emphatically, raising the tempo of her attacking play to dominate the next three games 11-2, 11-8, and 11-5, completing a convincing comeback victory.
Pooja Arthi Raghu also progressed with the most commanding performance among the Indian women, brushing aside Mahak Talati 11-3, 11-1, 11-1 in a one-sided contest. Anika Dubey joined her in the next round after cruising past Kriya Saravanan 11-4, 11-5, 11-4.
Elsewhere in the women's draw, Scotland's Lisa Aitken overcame Egypt's Salma Othman 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 14-12 in a hard-fought encounter, while South Korea's Chaewon Song rallied from a game down to beat India's Navya Sundararajan 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5.
Malaysia's Rui Jean Yek defeated Egypt's Mona Tamer in straight games, compatriot Thanusaa Uthrian overcame India's Eesha Shrivastava 11-7, 11-6, 11-9, and Egypt's Hana Aladdin eased past Vyomika Khandelwal 11-2, 13-11, 11-2.
In the men's opening round, Sri Lanka's Shamil Wakeel edged Lokesh Subramani 8-11, 15-13, 11-9, 11-3 after recovering from a game down, while Egypt's Youssef Teleb defeated Vedant Patel 11-9, 11-9, 11-4. Spain's Hugo Jaen got the better of Shiven Agarwal in straight games, and Malaysia's Harith Danial accounted for Mohit Bhatt 11-8, 11-8, 11-7.
India's Diwakar Singh advanced with a straight-games win over Adarsh Banodha, while Malaysia's Wa Sern Low defeated Arihant KS. Kuwait's Ammar Altamimi survived a five-game battle against Purav Rambhia, winning 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, and Egypt's Adham Roshdy completed the day's action with a straight-games victory over S. Palanivel Ravikumar.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Great to see Pooja Arthi Raghu absolutely dominate - 11-3, 11-1, 11-1 is just incredible! But I do hope our players get more exposure to international players. Navya lost to the Korean player, but these matches are exactly what they need to improve.
The depth in Indian women's squash is really encouraging - Ananya, Pooja, Anika all through to next round. And Diwakar in the men's too! These PSA Challenger events at home are a great platform for our players to climb the rankings. Kudos to Indian Squash Academy for hosting!
Impressive performance from Ananya Narayanan. That resilience after dropping the first game is exactly what separates good players from great ones. Also, Lisa Aitken from Scotland had a tough match against Egypt's Salma Othman - close games like that are always exciting to watch.
Nice to see squash getting some coverage in India! More events like these will help our players compete at the highest level. But we need to improve our infrastructure beyond just the big cities - talent is everywhere, but opportunities aren't. 🇮🇳
Excellent tournament in Chennai! The mix of Indian and international players is great for development. Shamil Wakeel's comeback from a game down against Lokesh was also impressive - those close games really test your character. Looking forward to the next rounds!
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