Harinder Pal Sandhu wins first round of qualifying at World Championships

Harinder Pal Sandhu (in front) in action at the World Championships (image courtesy: World Squash Championships)

World No. 71 Harinder Pal Sandhu was the only one to win his match from the three Indians in action in the first round of qualifying at the $325k Men’s World Squash Championships in Bellevue, Washington on Friday. Sandhu beat the 164th ranked Faraz Khan of the USA, 11-4, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6 in 47 minutes and will next play against World No. 84 Chris Hanson of the USA for a place in the main draw.

However, the USA-based Indian duo of Ramit Tandon and Supreet Singh did not have the same fate. While Columbia University’s Tandon succumbed to a 7-11, 11-7, 2-11, 9-11 defeat to World No. 86 Steve Finitsis of Australia in 53 minutes, the Connecticut-based Singh lost 5-11, 7-11, 8-11 to the 83rd ranked Englishman Jaymie Haycocks in 31 minutes.

World No. 57 Mahesh Mangaonkar is the only other Indian playing the qualifying round of the World Championships and he got a bye in the first round. He will start his campaign directly in the final round of qualifying against the 72nd ranked Egyptian Andrew Wagih on Saturday.

Sandhu, who recently ended up as the runner-up at the Chennai leg of the Indian Squash Circuit, was making his debut at the World Open. The 26-year-old revealed he had been working with the former World No. 1 David Palmer for the past two weeks and the training has been helping him immensely.

“This is my first World Open so I was a bit nervous, but I got more comfortable after the first game. After winning the second, I tried to finish the third too quickly, and he won the game with some lovely winners in the front.

“I’d never played him before, so I tried to keep things really simple and wait for opportunities. For the last two weeks I’ve been training in Orlando with David Palmer. It’s been a privilege working with him, and it’s helped my game a lot,” said Sandhu.