Mixed day for Indians at World Jr Squash

CHENNAI:   Indians had mixed luck on the opening day of the  WSF World Junior individual Squash championship which got underway  at Tauranga in New Zealand today.

A SRFI release here said, of the 12 boys and girls, who topok the field,  three boys and as many girls remained in the draw at the end of two  rounds of competition.

All the boys and three girls had a bye in the first round.     The three who played the first round were Chennai girls Ashita Bhengra  and Samita Sivakumar and both cleared that with a touch of confidence.     However, the third girl, Sanya Vats fell to a US opponent even if after a  brief fight.

However in the second round there was a mixture of good and bad.     Adhitya Raghavan and Abhay Singh, both seeded 5/8, came through  with ease as also Yash Fadte who downed a Pakistani opponent in four  games.

But Aryaman Adik, Tushar Shahani and Veer Chotrani made quiet  exits.

In the girls section, Akanksha Salunkhe (seeded 13/16), Sunayna  Kuruvilla and Aishwarya Bhattacharya stormed into the third round  where Ashita and Samita failed.