Indian Qualifiers Singh & Chotrani Claim Upsets On Day One Of PSA World Championships

Indian duo Anahat Singh and Veer Chotrani marked their debuts at the PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family with impressive victories as the world's most prestigious tournament got underway at the University Club of Chicago.

The PSA World Championships trophy is the most coveted honour in professional squash and attracts the world's top 128 male and female players, who battle it out over nine days, with over $1.3 million in total player compensation up for grabs.

17-year-old Singh had won six consecutive PSA Challenger Events coming into this tournament and she made it 29 matches without defeat as she battled to a 10-12, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 victory over US No.3 Marina Stefanoni.

Singh's winning streak brings her level with world No.1 Nouran Gohar - the 29-match unbeaten run being the highest recorded by any woman player on the Tour today!

"It's a bit surreal, I've seen this tournament on TV ever since I've been playing squash, but getting to be here and seeing all the top players and seeing how they are during the biggest tournament of the year is an experience that not many people get to have and I'm really grateful I have," said Singh afterwards.

"We had really long rallies and she's a great player. I've seen her play in the last few tournaments, she's been playing really well and she's broken into the top 30, so I knew today it was going to be a battle. It was really tiring and I'm exhausted, but I'm really happy I was able to get through it.

"I've been [working] with Greg [Gaultier] for about six months, he's a former World Champion, so having someone like him in my corner is really great. I'm getting a bit of advice from him and learning a lot of things from him, which is always helpful. My game has gone up a lot since I started working with him."

World No.62 Singh will play world No.15 Fayrouz Aboelkheir in the next round, while world No.1 and defending champion Nouran Gohar got her tournament underway with a comfortable victory against Nadine Shahin.

Singh's compatriot, world No.57 Chotrani, also made a winning start to life at the PSA World Championships, beating England's Declan James in an exciting four-game, 62-minute battle.

Chotrani, who won 16-14 in a nail-biting fourth game, will go up against four-time World Champion Ali Farag for a place in the third round.

"Last week I played [Mohamad] Zakaria in Bermuda and I had four match balls and I bottled it and I lost," Chotrani said.

"That match was actually in my head when I was match ball up and I thought I cannot give it away this time, but I fought hard and stayed extremely focused.

"Last week I didn't have the belief that I could beat top 20 and 25 guys, and today I went into the match with nothing to lose. I told myself to play without any pressure and enjoy it. Those match points were so hard and he showed why he's been a top 15 player. I'm over the moon to get through."

Men's defending champion Diego Elias recovered from a slow start, overturning a one-game deficit against Velavan Senthilkumar. Elias will go up against Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez in the next round.