Indian men advance to pre-quarters in World Junior squash team competition
Ontario, July 27
Indian men advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the World Squash Junior Team Championships as group toppers, while the women also made a winning start.
The fifth-seed Indian men's team of Gurveer Singh, Yusha Nafees and Aryaveer Dewan swept the Netherlands (Freek Bonnema, Jesper Hempenius and Quinten van Es) by 3-0 margin in Group 5.
In the match against Brazil, Purav Rambhia came in place of Gurveer as the Indians defeated the team of Bernardo Jorge Guimaraes, Matheus Frabetti and Viggo Hendricks 3-0.
Meanwhile, the women's team of Saanvi Kalanki, Anika Dubey and Rudra Singh, also seeded fifth, brushed aside Chinese Taipei 3-0 and will meet Malaysia next in Group 4.
Anahat Singh was rested for the women's opening round, a day after being crowned World Junior champion.
Among the teams that also started strong were the hosts, with Canada's women's team opening their campaign with a straight-games victory over Nigeria, who are making their debut in this year's women's team event.
And while it was a strong start for the women's team, it unfortunately was not the same for Canada's men's team, who suffered defeat as No.8 seeds Japan took control of the contest, with Shu Takahashi, Ren Makino and Shunsaku Kariyazono defeating Yusuf Matti Alvarez, Calder Murray and No.1 string Colten McLaughlin.
Meanwhile, defending champions Egypt made the perfect start to their defence of the World Junior Team titles, with the women's team securing a straight-games victory over Brazil, while the men's team, who featured twice, recorded victories over the Netherlands in the morning session and New Zealand in the evening.
Results (group stage):
Men: India bt the Netherlands 3-0 (Gurveer Singh bt Freek Bonnema 11-4, 11-0, 11-2; Yusha Nafees bt Jesper Hempenius 11-1, 11-4, 11-2; Aryaveer Dewan bt Quinten van Es 11-4, 11-3, 11-5).
India bt Brazil 3-0 (Purav Rambhia bt Bernardo Jorge Guimaraes 11-6, 11-5, 11-3; Yusha Nafees bt Matheus Frabetti 11-3, 11-2, 11-9; Aryaveer Dewan bt Viggo Hendricks 11-7, 11-0, 11-0).
Women: India bt Chinese Taipei 3-0 (Saanvi Kalanki bt Yu-Chia Wu 11-4, 11-2, 11-3; Anika Dubey bt Yeuk Hei Hebe Chan 11-1, 11-6, 11-5; Rudra Singh bt Cordelia Wan-Ya Hsu 11-1, 11-3, 11-3).
— IANS
Reader Comments
Nice to see squash getting attention. But we need more infrastructure back home - these kids train abroad mostly. Govt should promote squash like cricket and badminton. Still, proud of the team!
Really proud moment! Aryaveer Dewan's 11-0, 11-0 game against Brazil in the second match was just ruthless. And the women's team also dominating. Makes you feel good about Indian sports future. ☺️
Honestly, the scores show huge gap in quality. 11-2, 11-3 kind of results against Brazil and Netherlands suggest our players are in a different league. Let's hope they continue this momentum against stronger teams like Egypt in later rounds.
Amazing! Saanvi Kalanki, Anika Dubey, Rudra Singh - these girls are on fire! And Anahat already champion. Indian women's squash is really rising. Koi doubt nahi hai! 😊🏆
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