India began the Asian Team Squash championship on a positive note with the men's and women's teams posting easy wins in their respective group league openers in Chinese Taipei on Wednesday.
The men defeated their Philippines counterparts 3-0. The women then overcame Singapore by the same margin. The day's playing pattern was 3-1-2 which meant that the team's third placed players played first. Hence, Akanksha Salunkhe faced Singapore’s Sneha Sivakumar. The Indian junior started well, winning the first two games but lost the third, losing 8-11. Akanksha then bounced back to win the next one 12-10 to give India the lead.
Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal then stamped their class against Nur Adiwiyah and Sherilyn Yang Hui Xian, respectively to make it a comfortable outing for India in the end.
In the men's section, Philippines fought hard against India but the latter had the wherewithal to get a simple win. In the first tie, Velavan Senthilkumar dropped the first game but came back remarkably to defeat Rafa Yam. Harinder Pal Sandhu looked comfortable despite dropping a game against Robert Garcia and won the tie 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7. Kush Kumar next however signed off with a solid 3-0 victory over Reymark to complete the good work.
On Thursday, India will play Japan and Macao while the women face Malaysia.
The results
Men: India beat Philippines 3-0 (Velavan Senthilkumar bt Rafa Yam 8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-1; Harinder Pal Sandhu bt Robert Garcia 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7; Kush Kumar bt Reymark Begornia 11-2, 11-1, 11-4)
Women: India bt Singapore 3-0 (Akanksha Salunkhe bt Sneha Vijaykumar 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10; Joshna Chinappa bt Nur Adiwiyah 11-7, 11-4, 11-6; Dipika Pallikal bt Sherilyn Yang Hui Xian 11-7, 11-4, 11-3)
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