Birmingham, May 31 (IANS) India’s Abhay Singh and Veer Chotrani advanced to the second round at the British Open squash, while Ramit Tandon and rising women’s player Anahat Singh bowed out in the PSA Diamond event.

World No. 24 Abhay defeated Colombia’s Matias Knudsen 11-8, 11-5, 11-4, while world No 44 Chotrani beat Pakistan’s world No 29 Noor Zaman 11-8, 12-14, 11-6, 11-7.

Chotrani will take on fifth-seed Welsh player Joel Makin, while Abhay will next face seventh-seed Egyptian Mohamad Zakaria.

Tandon retired against Frenchman Auguste Dussourd with the scoreboard reading 14-12, 4-7.

Elsewhere, Simon Herbert secured a statement victory over the 2018 Champion Miguel Rodriguez 3-0 (15-13, 11-8, 11-4). Meanwhile, Sam Todd put himself through to the last 32 after a gruelling 54-minute contest against Fares Dessouky, winning 3-1.

In the women’s draw, Anahat went down to world No 36 Nardine Garas, who caused another upset after eliminating India’s No. 1 in four games, winning 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9.

In the early stages of the match, Garas was able to push the India No.1 to her limit, with the 22-year-old taking the first game 11-8.

Although she lost the second 8-11, she remained unfazed and was able to bounce back to win the next two games 11-8, 11-9. The victory will see the Egyptian play No.8 seed Tinne Gilis on the glass court at the Rep in Birmingham.

Following her victory, Garas said, “I’m so happy with the way I played today. I gave it my all and I thought it’s the last tournament of the season and I wanted to give it my all. I’m excited that my next match is at the Rep (theatre) as my next match is on the glass. Let’s see how it goes and I’m so excited to play.”

–IANS

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