Arun, Mehul rally to enter last 16 at squash meet

Arun Sharma trailed 0-2 before carving out a 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 victory, while Mehul Kumar fought back from 1-2 down to register a 11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4 win.

Arun Sharma defeated his Maharashtra state mate Tejas Sathare and Mehul Kumar overcame the stiff challenge from Miheer Prakash to advance to the pre-quarters.

Arun Sharma fought back from the brink to defeat his Maharashtra state mate Tejas Sathare in five games and enter the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the GSC-All India Squash Open here on Monday.

Sharma trailed 0-2 before hitting the straps and carving out a 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 victory to enter the last 16 at the suburban Goregaon Sports Club.

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Likewise, Services' Mehul Kumar fought back from 1-2 to overcome the stiff challenge from Miheer Prakash of Maharashtra for a 11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4 win and also entered the last 16.

In contrast, the top two seeds, Abhishek Pradhan and Abhishek Agarwal - both from Maharashtra - were in their elements as they routed their respective rivals in straight games to advance into the pre-quarters without much ado.

So, too, were the top two seeds in the boys under-17 group, Abhishek Kumar from Chandiragh and Mohit Bhatt from Maharashtra, both of who stormed into the quarterfinals with straight-game verdicts.