Harinder & Harita On A Charge In Chennai

Local players Harinder Pal Sandhu and Harita Omprakash pulled off notable upsets over seeded opponents in today's first round of the ICL Chennai Open at the ICL Squash Academy in Chennai, India.

In the men's $10,000 PSA Tour event, qualifier Harinder Pal Sandhu defeated sixth seed Shamsul Islam Khan, from Pakistan, in an enthralling four games. Harinder, an ICL Academy trainee ranked 143 in the world, battled for 39 minutes to overcome the Pakistani 12-10, 9-11, 11-1, 13-11.

The 19-year-old's reward is a quarter-final clash with compatriot Ritwik Bhattacharya, the second seed who defeated fellow countryman Ravi Dixit, also a qualifier, 12-10, 11-9, 11-1.

In the inaugural women's WISPA World Tour event, unseeded Harita Omprakash stunned eighth-seeded compatriot Surbhi Misra 10-8, 9-5, 9-2 in just 25 minutes.

The 16-year-old, the only non-WISPA member to reach the last eight, will now face Hong Kong's Annie Au, the fourth seed who beat India's recently-crowned Asian Junior U15 champion Anaka Alankamony 9-4, 9-0, 9-2.

Local girl Anwesha Reddy reached the quarter-finals after defeating Russian Irina Assal 9-4, 9-4, 3-9, 9-1. The 16-year-old eighth seed from Chennai will now meet third seed Orla Noom for a place in the semi-finals.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Naresh Kumar (IND) 11-5, 11-7, 13-11 (45m)
[8] Rob Sutherland (WAL) bt [Q] Graeme Wilson (NZL) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (24m)
[3] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt Zac Alexander (AUS) 12-10, 11-4, 11-4 (34m)
[5] Dick Lau (HKG) bt [Q] Parth Sharma (IND) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (25m)
[7] Max Lee (HKG) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) 12-14, 11-8, 11-1, 12-10 (45m)
[4] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt James Snell (ENG) 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (34m)
[Q] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt [6] Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK) 12-10, 9-11, 11-1, 13-11 (39m)
[2] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt [Q] Ravi Dixit (IND) 12-10, 11-9, 11-1 (29m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Christina Mak (HKG) bt Shria Khatri (IND) 9-2, 9-3, 9-2 (21m)
[5] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt Swati Muchhal (IND) 9-0, 9-2, 9-0 (10m)
[3] Orla Noom (NED) bt Saumya Karki (IND) 9-1, 7-9, 9-3, 9-1 (24m)
[7] Anwesha Reddy (IND) bt Irina Assal (RUS) 9-4, 9-4, 3-9, 9-1 (25m)
Harita Omprakash (IND) bt [8] Surbhi Misra (IND) 10-8, 9-5, 9-2 (25m)
[4] Annie Au (HKG) bt Anaka Alankamony (IND) 9-4, 9-0, 9-2 (18m)
[6] Birgit Coufal (AUT) bt Sachika Balvani (IND) 9-4, 9-4, 9-3 (20m)
[2] Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND) 9-2, 9-1, 9-0 (10m)