Indian duo make strong start at Hamburg Open Squash

In a positive start for India at the Hamburg Open squash tournament, Joshna Chinappa and Veer Chotrani moved into the next round with convincing performances, while compatriots Velavan Senthilkumar and Tanvi Khanna exited early.

Former world No. 10 Joshna dominated Germany’s Saskia Beinhard in straight games, winning 11-4, 11-5, 11-4. In the men’s draw, world No. 47 Chotrani also secured a comfortable straight-game victory over Spain’s Ivan Perez, sealing the match 11-8, 11-9, 11-8.

Meanwhile, India’s Abhay Singh, seeded fifth and fresh off a career-best world ranking of 22, along with seventh seed Ramit Tandon, received first-round byes.

It was a disappointing outing for Senthilkumar, who went down to Japan’s Ryosuke Tsukue in straight games. Khanna also bowed out after a hard-fought loss to Ireland’s Hannah Craig.

The tournament also witnessed a major upset, as Slovakia’s Marek Panacek, ranked 258 in the world, stunned world No. 52 Adrian Waller to advance. Panacek expressed satisfaction with his performance, saying he was pleased with the quality of his game and eager for the next round.

Another surprise came in the women’s draw, where wildcard Maya Weisher upset higher-ranked Hayley Ward in a five-game battle. The 19-year-old will now face fourth seed Melissa Alves in the next round.

Elsewhere, England’s Sam Todd and Patrick Rooney came through tough five-game matches to progress. In the women’s section, Millie Tomlinson edged past Katerina Tycova, while Marie Stephan staged a comeback to defeat Keira Marshall in another five-game encounter.

With inputs from IANS