Indian Tour Squash Championship | Akanksha, Anahat, and Joshna enter quarterfinals

Too easy: Anahat won at a canter against Egyptian Gohary.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU

Top-seeded Indians Akanksha Salunkhe, Anahat Singh, and Joshna Chinappa won their respective second-round fixtures to qualify for the women’s quarterfinals of the SRFI Indian Tour Squash Championship, a PSA Challenger event, at the Indian Squash and Triathlon Academy (ISTA) here on Tuesday.

Anahat blew away Egyptian Lojayn Gohary’s challenge, 11-8, 11-4, 11-2, in 20 minutes. The 17-year-old tended to go for her sidewall and drop shots to clinch points. It also helped that her opponent made some unforced errors.

Joshna, on the other hand, faced a stiff challenge from fellow Indian Tanvi Khanna. Joshna seemed to favour the low balls in a 50-minute battle that she won 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3.

“Whenever I got the opportunity, I wanted to attack. And for the most part, it worked in my favour. I think that’s what she also did — the minute she got a ball, she wanted to hit it really hard and low. The court is such that it’s quite difficult to pick up or read if you really get an attacking shot. And we were both trying to do that,” Joshna said after the match.

The results (second round, Indians unless mentioned): Men: Karim El Hammamy (Egy) bt Rahul Baitha 12-10, 11-7, 11-7; Abdalla Hafez (Egy) bt Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (Mal) 6-11, 11-3, 11-3, 15-13; Melvil Scianimanico (Fra) bt Yusha Nafees 11-9, 11-7, 11-5; Diego Gobbi (Bra) bt Seif El-Shenawy (Egy) 11-8, 12-10, 11-5; Ravindu Laksiri (SL) bt Suraj Kumar Chand 11-6, 3-11, 11-8, 11-5; Tomo Endo (Jpn) bt Mohamed Nasser (Egy) 5-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-8; Veer Chotrani (Ind) bt Maceo Levy (Fra) 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4; Brice Nicolas (Fra) bt Duncan Lee (Mal) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8.

Women: Akanksha Salunkhe bt Shameena Riaz 11-3, 11-8, 11-5; Nadien Elhammamy (Egy) bt Barb Sameh (Egy) 7-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-2; Joshna Chinappa bt Tanvi Khanna 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3; Sofia Mateos (Esp) bt Nadia Pfister (Sui) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4; Anahat Singh bt Lojayn Gohary (Egy) 11-8, 11-4, 11-2; Cristina Gomez (Esp) bt Rathika Suthanthira Seelan 11-9, 14-12, 11-6; Hayley Ward (RSA) bt Tessa ter Sluis (Ned) 7-11, 5-11, 15-13, 11-5, 11-8; Malak Fathy (Egy) bt Jacqueline Peychar (Aut) 11-5, 11-1, 9-11, 11-7.