Asian junior squash c’ship: Winning start for Indians

India’s boys’ and girls’ teams ensure a fine start to their campaign, with comfortable victories over their respective opponents.

File Photo: Yash Fadte (right) won his contests against Duvinka Manura Perera and Abbas Abdullah.

India’s boys’ and girls’ teams ensured a fine start to their campaign at the Asian junior squash team championship in Pattaya, Thailand, on Wednesday.

The boys’ team defeated Sri Lanka 3-0, and later defeated the host by the same margin.

Utkarsh Baheti and Tushar Shahani obtained swift victories over their respective Sri Lankan opponents; Yash Fadte, however, had to fight it out against Manura Perera until the end of the fifth game. Against Thailand, Yash, Veer Chotrani and Tushar played in top gear.

The girls’ team defeated Sri Lanka, too, by the same 3-0 margin. Yoshna Singh dropped a game against Hattiachchi Kasuni Malkini Gunawardane en route to her win, while compatriots Sanya Vats and Amira Singh gathered more convincing wins.

‘Happy’

Cyrus Poncha, India’s coach, said, “Overall I am very happy with the start. Both the boys and girls came up with good solid performance all round.”

Thursday would be a big day for the Indians, according to Poncha. The boys play Pakistan and the girls play Singapore. A win for the girls would place them in good stead for a medal.

After Iraq withdrew from the tournament, the Indian boys’ team was placed in Pool A.

• Boys
• Pool A: India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Utkarsh Baheti bt Herath Mudiyanselage Tuwin Osanda 11-5, 11-4, 11-4; Yash Fadte bt Duvinka Manura Perera 11-13, 11-1, 11-4,9-11, 11-5; Tushar Shahani bt Methmal Dewmina Wood 11-4, 11-5, 11-5); India bt Thailand 3-0 (Yash Fadte bt Abbas Abdullah 11-1, 11-4, 11-4; Veer Chotrani bt Waritpol Klinsoontorn 11-2, 11-1, 11-7; Tushar Shahani bt Nirucha Floythong 11-2, 11-3, 11-2)

• Girls
• Pool B: India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Sanya Vats bt Deen Sameera Rukshana Deen 11-3, 11-5, 11-6; Yoshna Singh bt Hettiachchi Kasuni Malkini Gunawardane 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-2; Amira Singh bt Veera Samiyel Chanithma Sinaly 11-4, 11-9, 11-2).