HONG KONG: India emerged victorious in both men’s and women’s categories in the ongoing World Squash Team Championships 2024 in Hong Kong, China on Monday, as per Olympics.com.
The Indian men’s team began its campaign with a 2-1 victory against Ireland. The women’s team, on the other hand, defeated Colombia 2-1 in their opening match but lost 3-0 to Belgium in their second match of the day.
Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team were off to a great start against Colombia with Anahat Singh, 95th in squash rankings, beating world No. 81 Lucia Bautista 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-4).
Akanksha Salunkhe, India’s highest-ranked player in the team at world No. 70, doubled the advantage later with a 3-1 (11-6, 5-11, 11-2, 11-6) win over world No. 100 Catalina Pelaez.
Nirupama Dubey, ranked 205th, fought valiantly against world No. 138 Laura Tovar, but lost 3-2 (4-11, 5-11, 11-3, 14-12, 5-11), which meant India picked up a 2-1 win in this tie.
The Indian men’s team were off to a challenging start in their game against Ireland. World No. 54 Abhay Singh lost the opening match 3-0 (3-11, 9-11, 6-11) against a much lower-ranked opponent in Sam Buckley (139th).
However, Velavan Senthilkumar and Veer Chotrani made amends to turn the tie around. Senthilkumar, ranked 45th, beat Conor Moran 3-0 (11-9,11-6,11-3), while Veer Chotrani too won 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-8) against Oisin Logan. As a result, India won the tie 2-1.
The Indian women’s team, however, struggled in its second match of the day against Belgium. Anahat Singh lost her opening match to world No. 9 Nele Coll 3-1 (11-7, 6-11, 7-11, 8-11) and world No. 5 Tinne Gilis doubled the advantage for Belgium with a straight games win over Akanksha Salunkhe (11-2, 11-7, 11-6).
In the final match, world No. 172 Anjali Semwal suffered a shock defeat against world No. 284 Chloe Crabbe. The Belgian edged a tightly-contested match 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 5-11, 10-12).
Both the Indian men’s and women’s teams will be playing their final group matches on Tuesday.
The Indian men will take on Colombia and a victory will assure their place in the next round of the World Squash Team Championships 2024. The women’s team, currently third in Group C, will clash Italy in a must-win match. (ANI)