CHENNAI: Indian men and women advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Squash Junior Team Championships underway in Ontario, Canada.
While fifth-seed Indian men survived a scare against No 11 seeds Kuwait before prevailing 2-1 in the pre-quarters, the women progressed with a straightforward victory over South Africa in their final group match.
In the quarters, Indian men will meet England and the women will face USA. Aryaveer Dewan levelled the tie for Indian men following Yusha Nafees' early setback, and Gurveer Singh sealed the win. "(Kuwait's) Abdullah came out fighting in the opening match and didn't let us settle in the first match, but that's the atmosphere that comes with team squash," India head coach Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu said. "We were fortunate that our No 1 and No 3 strings were able to come back into the tie, staying focused, and it worked out for us in the end."
Results: Men (pre-quarters): India bt Kuwait 2-1 (Yusha Nafees lost to Abdullah Ali 4-11, 5-11, 7-11; Aryaveer Dewan bt Khaled Walead Al Fouzain 11-5, 11-6, 11-5; Gurveer Singh bt Abdul Rahman Al Sanea 11-3, 11-3, 11-4); Women (group 4): India bt South Africa 3-0 (Rudra Singh bt Makayla Naidoo 11-4, 11-5, 11-3; Anahat Singh bt Brianna Robinson 11-1, 11-1, 11-3; Saanvi Kalanki bt Vivienne Van Der Schyff 11-4, 11-3, 11-3).
Mani bags gold
Prateek Chalia of Delhi and Maharashtra's Alisha Mashruwala emerged Over-35 men's and women's champions respectively in the 2026 Masters National Squash Championship which concluded in Kolkata on Wednesday. Tamil Nadu's third seed Murukesh Mani bagged the Men's Over-40 crown.
Results (finals): Men: Over-35: Prateek Chalia (DL) bt Gursimar Singh (DL) 13-11, 11-4, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5. Over-40: Murukesh Mani (TN) bt Aakash Sharma (DL) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8. Over-45: Aditya Maheshwari (MH) bt 3/4-Baskar Balamurugan (TN) 13-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-8. Over-50: 1-Dalip Tripathi (WB) bt Tarun Nauni (MH) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7; Over-55: Amit Chinai (GJ) bt 1-Sanjay Rajpal (KA) 11-9, 7-11, 13-11, 11-3. Over-60: Kavi Seth (WB) bt 1-Ashun Bahl (MH) 11-6, 11-5, 4-11, 11-3; Over-65: Arun Rabindranath (KA) bt 1-Ravikrishna Burla (TL) 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2; Over-70: 1-Rajiv Reddy (TN) bt Jaylal Shrestha (WB) 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7.
Women: Over-35: Alisha Mashruwala (MH) bt Vasudha Sarda (WB) 11-5, 11-8, 11-4. Over-45: 1-Mekhala Srivastava (KA) bt Farida Tata (MH) 11-4, 11-2, 11-4.
