Chennai, July 11 (IANS) India’s Ananya Narayanan recovered from a game down to defeat compatriot Janet Vidhi in four games and book her place in the second round of the women’s draw at the Squash PSA Challenger Tour-Chennai at the Indian Squash Academy here on Saturday.

After dropping the opening game 8-11, Ananya responded emphatically, raising the tempo of her attacking play to dominate the next three games 11-2, 11-8, and 11-5, completing a convincing comeback victory.

Pooja Arthi Raghu also progressed with the most commanding performance among the Indian women, brushing aside Mahak Talati 11-3, 11-1, 11-1 in a one-sided contest. Anika Dubey joined her in the next round after cruising past Kriya Saravanan 11-4, 11-5, 11-4.

Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Scotland’s Lisa Aitken overcame Egypt’s Salma Othman 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 14-12 in a hard-fought encounter, while South Korea’s Chaewon Song rallied from a game down to beat India’s Navya Sundararajan 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5.

Malaysia’s Rui Jean Yek defeated Egypt’s Mona Tamer in straight games, compatriot Thanusaa Uthrian overcame India’s Eesha Shrivastava 11-7, 11-6, 11-9, and Egypt’s Hana Aladdin eased past Vyomika Khandelwal 11-2, 13-11, 11-2.

In the men’s opening round, Sri Lanka’s Shamil Wakeel edged Lokesh Subramani 8-11, 15-13, 11-9, 11-3 after recovering from a game down, while Egypt’s Youssef Teleb defeated Vedant Patel 11-9, 11-9, 11-4. Spain’s Hugo Jaen got the better of Shiven Agarwal in straight games, and Malaysia’s Harith Danial accounted for Mohit Bhatt 11-8, 11-8, 11-7.

India’s Diwakar Singh advanced with a straight-games win over Adarsh Banodha, while Malaysia’s Wa Sern Low defeated Arihant KS. Kuwait’s Ammar Altamimi survived a five-game battle against Purav Rambhia, winning 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, and Egypt’s Adham Roshdy completed the day’s action with a straight-games victory over S. Palanivel Ravikumar.

–IANS

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