Jaipur, Oct 2 (IANS)
Scripting a big upset, 16-year old Indian Velavan Senthilkumar shocked seventh seeded Frenchman Arthur Moineau 11-7,11-9,11-6 in a first round match of the first of four Squash Challenger tournaments on the JSW Challenger Circuit here Friday.
The conditions at the Jaipur Club did not seem to suit Moineau who seemed extremely unhappy with the referee as well as the air-conditioning which, as he put it, was non-existent.
One of the bright talents emerging from the ISA in Chennai, Velavan played a very solid match. He kept the ball in play as well as picked up and got a lot of balls back from Moineau who tried to get up on the T and volley everything.
Left-handed Velavan has a very neat technique as most left handers do and he played to his strengths, getting his length and width to perfection and used his very effective drop shot frequently which gave him lots of dividends.
Meanwhile, the top seeds progressed smoothly. Sixth seed Adam Murrills from England beat qualifier Pakistan's Muhammed Asim Khan 12-10, 10-12, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 in a marathon match, lasting 65 minutes.
Later, Asian Games gold medalist Harinderpal Sandhu beat qualifier Gaurav Nandrajog 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4 in another long match that stretched to 75 minutes.
Also coming through his first round match was Mahesh Mangaonkar who beat fellow-Indian and wild card entry Vijay Kumar Meena 11-2, 11-8, 11-1.
