Giza, May 10: Ramit Tandon and Velavan Senthilkumar faced early exits in the men’s first round of the World Squash Championship held in Giza, Egypt, on Saturday.
After a remarkable victory by Veer Chotrani over his higher-ranked compatriot Abhay Singh, Tandon, ranked 40th in the world, lost to the 21st-ranked Karim El Torky of Egypt with scores of 6-11, 11-7, 6-11, and 0-11. Meanwhile, Senthilkumar was defeated by the world’s fifth-ranked player, Victor Croin, with a scoreline of 11-8, 11-8, 11-3.
Veer Chotrani, who had previously triumphed over Abhay Singh in a tight tie-break, found himself in a challenging position after losing the next two games. However, he made a comeback, winning the subsequent two games to advance to the second round. Chotrani remarked, “Playing against a compatriot in the first round of the World Championship is obviously tough. We don’t want any of us to exit in the first round, but it was planned, and I’m very happy to have progressed.”
He added, “The hard work I’ve put in over the past few weeks has boosted my confidence. Achieving such a result is very positive. Last time we played in the finals in India, I lost to Abhay, and I was very disappointed with that performance.” Chotrani will face the current champion and world number one, Mustafa Asal, in the second round on Sunday.
India’s campaign in last year’s World Championship in Chicago ended in the second round, with Anahat Singh, Veer Chotrani, Abhay Singh, and Ramit Tandon all eliminated after competitive losses, while Velavan Senthilkumar exited in the opening round. India has yet to win any medals in the singles events of the World Squash Championship.
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