Kolkata: Indian squash players Arihant K.S. and Pooja Arthi Raghu advanced to the next round of the HCL Squash PSA Challenger Tour event after winning their respective opening-round matches in Kolkata on Monday.
Arihant Overcomes Swiss Opponent
Arihant K.S. defeated Switzerland’s Leandro Mannhart 11-6, 9-11, 13-11, 11-4 in the men’s singles opening round.
Sandhesh Palanivel Ravikumar also progressed after beating Harshal Rana 11-9, 12-10, 11-9, while Rahul Baitha defeated Rounak Yadav 11-6, 11-5, 11-9.
Other Indian winners included Ravi Dixit, Deepak Mandal and Shaurya Bawa.
Pooja Stages Five-Game Comeback
In the women’s first round, Pooja Arthi Raghu fought back from losing the opening game to beat Kaashvi Mangal 13-15, 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9.
Ananya Narayanan defeated Aahana Singh 8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-8, while Vasundhara Nangare beat compatriot Janet Vidhi 11-8, 11-5, 11-5.
Reiva Nimbalkar, Anjali Semwal, Vyomika Khandelwal, Anika Dubey and Sahana Kalaivanan were among the other Indian players to advance.
$9,000 Prize Money at Stake
The tournament carries a prize fund of $9,000 in both the men’s and women’s sections.
The HCL Squash PSA Challenger Tour has already staged events in Indore, Mumbai and Chennai before arriving in Kolkata.
India’s men’s challenge will be led by fourth seed Suraj Kumar Chand and eighth seed Om Semwal, while Rahul Baitha and Sandhesh Palanivel Ravikumar are also among the country’s contenders.
In the women’s section, Tanvi Khanna is the top seed. Rathika Suthanthira Seelan and Akanksha Salunke are seeded fifth and sixth, respectively, while Nirupama Dubey is seeded seventh. Unnati Tripathi is another Indian player in the top 10.