Chennai, May 14 (IANS) Defending champions Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar made a commanding start to their campaign in the men’s doubles event at the 3rd National Doubles Squash Championships, cruising into the semifinals with a dominant straight-games victory at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai on Thursday.

The top-seeded pair, who received a bye in the opening round, needed little time to settle into rhythm as they overpowered Shubham and Vedant Patel 11-4, 11-2 in the quarterfinals. Their sharp movement and aggressive shot-making ensured complete control throughout the contest as they continued their bid to retain the national title.

Abhay also remained in contention in the mixed doubles category, where he is partnering Rathika Seelan this year following the absence of his reigning partner, Anahat Singh. The second-seeded duo survived a stern challenge from Ravi Dixit and Janet Vidhi before advancing to the semifinals with a gritty 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 victory.

The contest proved to be one of the most competitive matches of the day, with Abhay and Rathika recovering strongly after dropping the opening game. Their composure in crucial moments of the second and third games ultimately helped them edge through.

Meanwhile, other men’s doubles quarterfinal encounters also produced impressive performances. Ravi Dixit and Vikas Mehra defeated Mathew Godwin and Navaneeth Prabhu 11-7, 10-12, 11-7 in a closely fought battle, while the Tamil Nadu pair of Guhan Senthilkumar and Sandhesh PR continued their strong run with an 11-7, 2-11, 11-8 win over Harinder Sandhu and Om Semwal.

Second seeds Rahul Baitha and Suraj Chand advanced comfortably after beating Dinesh R and Meyappan L 11-6, 11-6.

In the women’s doubles competition, the experienced top-seeded combination of Joshna Chinappa and Rathika Seelan opened their Group A campaign with a convincing 11-2, 11-7 victory over Sahana Kalaivanan and Sangamitra Shanmugham. In another Group A match, Ananya Narayan and Anika Dubey registered a dominant 11-2, 11-1 win over the same opponents.

The mixed doubles event also saw top seeds Velavan Senthilkumar and Joshna Chinappa make an emphatic start. The experienced pairing brushed aside Roshan Rajkumar and Sahana Kalaivanan 11-4, 11-5 to seal a semifinal berth.

Suraj Chand and Nirupama Dubey also progressed after edging past Navaneeth Prabhu and Pooja Arthi 11-9, 12-10 in a tightly contested match, while Rahul Baitha and Anika Dubey fought back strongly to defeat Sandhesh PR and Shameena Riaz 10-12, 11-6, 11-8.

Earlier in the tournament on Wednesday, Guhan Senthilkumar and Sandhesh PR had stormed into the men’s doubles quarterfinals with a one-sided 11-1, 11-2 victory over Naman Surana and Pranav Agarwal in the round of 16. Ravi Dixit and Janet Vidhi had also progressed in mixed doubles after overcoming Dinesh R and Ananya Narayan 4-11, 11-5, 11-8.

–IANS

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