Chennai, July 12 (IANS) Second seed Indian Suraj Chand rallied to beat Kuwait’s Ammar Altamimi 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 in the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the Squash PSA Challenger Tour-Chennai at the Indian Squash Academy on Sunday.

Men’s seventh seed Om Semwal and women’s third seed Rathika Seelan, fourth seed Sanya Vats, eighth seed Unnati Tripathi and Pooja Arthi Raghu were the other Indians to advance to the quarterfinals.

India had a mixed day in the pre-quarterfinals of the tournament. Om Semwal, Suraj Chand, Unnati Tripathi, Sanya Vats, Pooja Arthi Raghu, and Rathika Seelan all moved on to the quarterfinals in their singles events.

In the men’s draw, Om Semwal came back after losing the first game to defeat Sri Lanka’s Shamil Wakeel with scores of 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3. Second seed Suraj Chand also rallied to beat Kuwait’s Ammar Altamimi, winning 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 to secure his spot in the last eight. However, Diwakar Singh lost decisively to Canada’s fourth seed Salah Eltorgman, with scores of 11-5, 11-3, 11-2. Ayaan Vaziralli also fell to Malaysia’s Wa Sern Low, with a score of 11-8, 11-5, 11-9.

The women’s section featured several all-Indian matchups. Eighth seed Unnati Tripathi came back after dropping the first game to defeat Ananya Narayanan, winning 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4. Fourth seed Sanya Vats won comfortably against Scotland’s Lisa Aitken in straight games. Pooja Arthi Raghu caused an upset by beating fifth seed Nirupama Dubey with scores of 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9. Third seed Rathika Seelan narrowly defeated Anika Dubey in a tough five-game match. Shameena Riaz, on the other hand, lost to Malaysia’s Thanusaa Uthrian, despite winning the third game convincingly.

–IANS

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