Asian junior team squash results

Kush Kumar

Indian boys and girls are just one win away from the semi-finals in the Asian junior team squash championship being held in Kuala Lumpur.

It still was a mixed day on Thursday with the boys cruising to an easy win over Chinese Taipei, while the girls going down fighting to the higher ranked Hong Kong, seeded two here.

The boys tie proved a wash out with Kush Kumar, Sandeep Ramachandran and Yohan Pandole, making his first appearance, way ahead of the Chinese Taipei players. With three wins, India topped pool C and now plays Iran on Friday for a semi-final berth.

In the girls section, India expectedly had a tough opponent in Hong Kong. Still Adya Advani showed she can be a stern opponent by her great display. After the team’s top seeded Harshit Kaur went down with little to offer, Adya ran close against Lui Hiu Lam. The two players traded two games each. In fact Adya led 2-1 and then lost the fourth game to lead for a while in the decider. The good work could not be sustained. With the tie decided, Akanksha Salunkhe won the dead third match to make it 2-1 in Hong Kong’s favour.

With this, India placed itself second in pool B behind Hong Kong. A win against Sri Lanka next will see India through into the criss-cross semi-final knock out.

The results:

Boys: Pool C: Kush kumar bt Chu Ching Hsuan 11-1, 11-6, 11-2;

Sandeep Ramachandran bt Wu Szu-Hsien 11-2, 11-1, 11-2;

Yohan Pandole bt Cheng Yung-Tse 11-1, 11-2, 11-3

Girls: Pool B: Hong Kong bt India 2-1

Choi Uen Shan bt Harshit Kaur 11-8, 11-9, 11-2;

Lui Hiu Lam bt Adya Advani 7-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9;

Ho Ka Wing lost to Akanksha Salunkhe 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 12-14, 8-11.