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.

RESULTS: Men (Round of 32): (2)- Abhishek Agarwal (MH) bt Sumit Kumar (DL) 11-4, 11-2, 11-7; Deepak Tiwari (MH) bt Rounak Yadav (SER) 11-5, 13-11, 2-11, 11-6; Rutvik Rau (MH) bt Awdesh Yadav (SER) 7-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-4; Rohit Kadam (MH) bt Souvik Banerjee (MH) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5; Arun Sharma (MH) bt Tejas Sakhare (MH) 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3; Jamal Sakib (SER) bt Vikas Lath (MH) 11-5, 11-3, 11-3; Mehul Kumar (SER) bt Miheer Prakash (MH) 11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4; Soumik Banerjee (MH) bt Abhinav Thyagarajan (MH) 13-11, 11-8, 11-5; P Amar Singh (MH) bt Rahul Vasishtha (DL) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7; Ravi Dixit (SER) bt Puneet Pareek (MH) 11-3, 11-4, 11-8; (1)- Abhishek Pradhan (MH) bt Shanay Dharod (MH) 11-1, 11-7, 11-2. Boys U-17 (Pre-quarterfinals): (1)- Abhishek Kumar (CH) bt Shreyansh Agarwal (MH) 11-3, 11-3, 11-8; Jay Vaknallim (MH) bt Amaan Habibulla (MH) bt 11-1, 11-8, 11-3; Gaurav Kumar (UP) bt Ahaan Bhansali (MH)9-11, 11-3, 13-15, 11-4, 11- 8; Arman Darukhanwalla (MH) bt Pratinav Deb (MH) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4; Arnav Mandhana (MH) bt Arnav Khot (MH) 11-4, 11-8, 11-9; Jeb Pandole (MH) bt Rohan Potdar (MH) 11-3, 11-8, 11-4; Nakashtra Sharma (RJ) bt Shaan Singh (RJ) 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7;(2)- Mohit Bhatt (MH) bt Sunny Yadav (MH) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4.