Four Indian players have advanced to the second round of the PSA Squash World Championships on Saturday. Ramit Tandon, Anahat Singh, Abhay Singh, and Veer Chotrani won their respective first round matches.
Ramit Tandon faced Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue in the first round encounter and made a comeback after losing the first game 10-12. He won the next three games with scores of 11-7, 13-11, and 11-7.
Teenage Indian star, Anahat Singh was up against Marina Stefanoni of the USA and won a thrilling 3-2 victory. After losing the first game 10-12, she cameback to win 11-9, lost the third game 6-11, and then clinched the final two games 11-6, 11-6, securing a 3-2 victory.
“We had really long rallies and she’s a great player. I’ve seen her play in the last few tournaments, she’s been playing really well and she’s broken into the top 30 so I knew today it was going to be a battle,” she told the PSA World Championships website. “It was really tiring and I’m exhausted and I’m really happy I was able to get through it.
Abhay Singh also produced a solid performance against Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller. His only blip came in the second game when he lost 2-11 but convincingly won the other three games to book his berth in the next round.
Other Indian in fray, Veer Chotrani caused an upset as he defeated former world number 15 Declan James of England in a very tight contest. Both players fought toe-to-toe in the game pushing each other to the limits.
Veer emerged victorious in the four game matche as he won the first game 11-9, lost the second 9-11, and then took the third 12-10 and the fourth 16-14, securing a well-deserved 3-1 victory.
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However, Veer will face tough competition in the second round as four-time World Champion Ali Farag waits for him in the next round after defeating Bernar Jaume of Spain in straight games.
“Relief, I’d say! Last week I played Mohamad Zakaria in Bermuda and I had four match balls and I bottled it and I lost,” he told the organizers. “That match was actually in my head when I was up match ball and I thought I cannot give it away this time, but I fought hard and stayed extremely focused and I was able to get the win in the end.
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