SRFI India Squash Tour: Aditya Jagtap reaches semifinals

Sixth seed Aditya Jagtap beat Dimitri Steinmann in straight games to enter the semifinals of the HCL-SRFI India squash tour on Tuesday.

Aditya Jagtap beat his higher-ranked opponent despite weathering resistance in the second game. (File Photo)

Indian Aditya Jagtap, seeded sixth, beat Dimitri Steinmann of Switzerland 11-6, 15-13, 11-4 in the men’s quarterfinal in the Chennai-leg of the HCL-SRFI India squash tour, a PSA Challenger tour, at the Indian Squash Academy (ISA) here on Tuesday.

“I’m quite happy with how I played. He (Dimitri) is ranked above me. So, I knew it was going to be tough. But I started off well. I think, once I got the lead (winning the first game), the second game became the most important. I won it 15-13 and that was a big one. Because when you go 2-0 up, it is very tough (for the opponent) to come back in these conditions,” said Aditya after the match.

It was level 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12 in the second game.

“I decided to hang in there. And once I got that final point, I was a bit more relaxed. It’s my first $20k semifinal tomorrow. I am really happy with my game, feeling confident with my movement, and being able to withstand pressure,” he added.

READ | SRFI India Squash Tour: Mangaonkar enters quarterfinals

The 27-year-old will face the top seed Ivan Yuen of Malaysia on Wednesday.

“Playing the top seed will be a new challenge. I know he’s very quick. So, I need to vary the pace. I can’t just keep playing one way,” he said.

Second seed Mahesh Mangaonkar and Harinder Pal Sandhu who won their respective matches, will face each other in the other semifinal. The results (quarterfinals):

Men: Aditya Jagtap bt Dimitri Steinmann (Swi) 11-6, 15-13, 11-4; Ivan Yuen (Mal) bt Henry Leung (Hkg) 11-7, 11-8, 12-10; Harinder Pal Sandhu bt Angus Gillams (Sco) 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7; Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Addeen Idrakie (Mal) 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 13-11. Women: Rachel Arnold (Mal) bt Aifa Azman (Mal) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7; Menna Hamid (Egy) bt Jemyca Aribado (Phi) 13-11, 11-1, 11-9; Wen Li Lai (Mal) bt Sunayna Kuruvilla 11-5, 5-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-4; Menna Nasser (Egy) bt Chan Yiwen (Mal) 11-4, 11-7, 11-5.