CHENNAI: Teenager Aryaveer Dewan was operating at a different level on Thursday.
At the centre courts of the Indian Squash Academy here, he saw off Lokesh Subramani in the U17 semifinals of the sub junior and junior national squash championships with ease.
He made his opponent run for every shot and was on his toes to counter his best shots. In what has been a significant year, the 16-year old from Delhi is now in contention for his first title. He was part of the historic U17 Indian team that captured gold in the Junior Asian Championships, as well as the U19 Indian team that returned with bronze in the Junior World Championships. Those landmark moments had come for India after a gap of 13 years.
"That gold is a big thing for me because in 2023 we missed out on the medal. To bounce back and win gold feels great. Representing India and bringing laurels to the country — there is no better feeling," Dewan told this daily after his win.
Training in Egypt, in addition to working under former squash player from Italy, Stephane Galifi, has helped the teenager improve leaps and bounds. "I have been working on my technique and my movement. I can see the results in my games," he noted.
On Friday, he will be appearing in his fourth career final and he'll be hoping to apply the finishing touches.
Anika shines
Anika Dubey defeated Tamil Nadu’s Ananya Narayanan in straight sets in the girls' U19 semifinal. Dubey, who hails from Pune, also made her junior Worlds debut in the team event this year at Cairo, Egypt. "I enjoyed playing the experienced players there and I have a lot of take-backs from it."
Her approach to squash is interesting. Anika describes it as something close to "three dimensional chess", due to the unpredictability factor in the game.
Another interesting part of her preparation is to "study maths". "It helps me take my mind off squash. It also helps me increase my focus in the game, too," she said.
In the same city as her idol and veteran Joshna Chinappa, Dubey will ensure that her performances will be recognised as she will step on to the court for Friday's final.
Result (Semis): Girls: U13: Divyanshi Jain bt Deepa Debiram 3-2; Shanaya Parasrampuria bt Shanaya Roy 3-0; U15: Goushika M bt Fabiha Nafees 3-1, Aadya Budhia bt Anika Kalanki 3-2; U17: Aradhya Porwal bt Saanvi Kalanki 3-0, Sehar Nayar bt Diva Shah 3-0; U19: Anika Dubey bt Ananya Narayanan 3-0, Akanksha Gupta bt Rudra Singh 3-0; Boys: U13: Abhyuday Aroa bt Prabhav Bajoria 3-0, Amarya Bajaj bt Dhairya Gogia 3-0; U15: Aryaman Singh bt Shreyansh Jha 3-1, Shresht Iyer bt Harshal Rana 3-2; U17: Aryaveer Dewan bt Lokesh Subramani 3-0, Shiven Agarwal bt Purav Rambhia 3-0; U19: Arihant Ks bt Aayush Verma 3-0.
