India registered victories in their respective opening matches at the World Squash Team Championships 2024 in Hong Kong China on Monday.
The Indian men’s team began its campaign with a 2-1 victory against Ireland. The women’s team, on the other hand, defeated Colombia 2-1 in their opening match, but lost 3-0 to Belgium in their second match of the day.
Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team were off to a great start against Colombia with Anahat Singh, 95th in squash rankings, beating world No. 81 Lucia Bautista 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-4).
Akanksha Salunkhe, India’s highest ranked player in the team at world No. 70, doubled the advantage later with a 3-1 (11-6, 5-11, 11-2, 11-6) win over world No. 100 Catalina Pelaez.
Nirupama Dubey, ranked 205th, fought valiantly against world No. 138 Laura Tovar, but lost 3-2 (4-11, 5-11, 11-3, 14-12, 5-11), which meant India picked up a 2-1 win in this tie.
The Indian men’s team were off to a challenging start in their game against Ireland. World No. 54 Abhay Singh lost the opening match 3-0 (3-11, 9-11, 6-11) against a much lower-ranked opponent in Sam Buckley (139th).
However, Velavan Senthilkumar and Veer Chotrani made amends to turn the tie around. Senthilkumar, ranked 45th, beat Conor Moran 3-0 (11-9,11-6,11-3), while Veer Chotrani too won 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-8) against Oisin Logan. As a result, India won the tie 2-1.
The Indian women’s team, however, struggled in its second match of the day against Belgium. Anahat Singh lost her opening match to world No. 9 Nele Coll 3-1 (11-7, 6-11, 7-11, 8-11) and world No. 5 Tinne Gilis doubled the advantage for Belgium with a straight games win over Akanksha Salunkhe (11-2, 11-7, 11-6).
In the final match, world No. 172 Anjali Semwal suffered a shock defeat against world No. 284 Chloe Crabbe. The Belgian edged a tightly-contested match 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 5-11, 10-12).
Both the Indian men’s and women’s teams will be playing their final group matches on Tuesday.
The Indian men will take on Colombia and a victory will assure their place in the next round of the World Squash Team Championships 2024. The women’s team, currently third in Group C, will clash Italy in a must-win match.