Anahat Singh, Aryaveer Dewan storm into pre-quarterfinals of World Junior Squash Championships

Ontario: India's top junior squash players Anahat Singh and Aryaveer Dewan cruised into the round of 16 at the World Junior Individual Squash Championships with commanding straight-game victories in their respective round-of-32 matches.

Top-seeded Anahat Singh, aiming to become India's first-ever junior world squash champion, outclassed Hong Kong's Pui Yin Chole Lo 11-3, 11-1, 11-3. She will next face Malaysia's Doyce Ye San Lee, the 13/16 seed, for a place in the quarterfinals.

In the men's draw, Aryaveer Dewan, seeded 5/8, comfortably defeated South Africa's Joseph Feast 11-4, 11-3, 11-3. He will now take on American 9/12 seed Yaseen Shalaby in the pre-quarterfinals.

However, it was the end of the road for India's other contenders. Gurveer Singh, Yusha Nafees, Saanvi Kalanki, Rudra Singh, and Anika Dubey were all knocked out after losing to higher-ranked opponents.

Elsewhere on Day 2, Brazil's Laura Silva produced one of the biggest moments of the tournament by rallying from two games down to claim a dramatic 3-2 victory and book her place in the last 16.

Malaysia's Harleein Tan also survived a tough challenge, recovering from 2-1 behind to defeat Canada's Wing Kai Gladys Ho and advance.

England's Dylan Roberts progressed with a win over Malaysia's Ivan Jia Yu Chang, while Hong Kong China's Helen Tang secured a convincing 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 victory over Australia's Sarbani Maitra.

Other notable results saw Pakistan's Nauman Khan defeat England's Gabriel Chak 3-1, Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Alnasfan overcome Japan's Shunsaku Kariyazono in straight games, Egypt's Habiba Rizk beat France's Leelou Laporte, and Belgium's Savannah Moxham eliminate India's Saanvi Kalanki.

Indian Results (Round of 32):

Men: Aryaveer Dewan bt Joseph Feast (RSA) 11-4, 11-3, 11-3; Adam Hawal (Egypt) bt Gurveer Singh 11-6, 11-8, 11-3; Nickhileswar Moganasundharam (Malaysia) bt Yusha Nafees 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

Women: Savannah Moxham (Belgium) bt Saanvi Kalanki 11-7, 11-4, 11-2; Barb Sameh (Egypt) bt Rudra Singh 11-5, 11-6, 11-1; Tsz Ching Cheung (Hong Kong) bt Anika Dubey 11-6, 11-7, 11-5; Anahat Singh bt Pui Yin Chole Lo (Hong Kong) 11-3, 11-1, 11-3.

With inputs from IANS