Unseeded Mithali Surana of Mumbai beat top seed Tanaya M Parakh of West Bengal and advanced to the semi-finals of the Otters Club Squash Open in Mumbai on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Aishwarya Khubchandani continued her good run of form by advancing to the U-19 and women’s semi-finals with straight game victories over her opponents Rewa Bharma and Nikita Agarwal respectively. Parakh started the game as the crowd favourite but Surana quickly changed perceptions by winning the first game 11-3.
The second game saw Parakh take the fight to her opponent but she could not capitalize on a positive start and succumbed to an 8-11 defeat. The third game saw a fierce fight between the two with Parakh giving her all to stay in the game. It was a close encounter but Parakh struggled in the crunch moments, which helped Surana take the game 11-9, and the match 11-3, 11-8, 11-9 to advance to the semi-final.
Meanwhile, Khubchandani continued her fine run by taking down both her U-19 and women’s opponents in straight games. In the U-19 tie, Khubchandani remained unchallenged as she ran through Rewa Bharma, winning the game 11-1, 11-1, 11-5. Khubchandani, playing barely an hour after her first match, showed no signs of slowing down as she took down the unseeded Nikita Agarwal 11-1, 11-1, 11-1.
In the boys U-19 tie, top seed Veer Chotrani hardly broke a sweat as he marched his way to the semi-finals, defeating Advait Adik 11-2, 11-3, 11-5. In another match, second seed Tushar defended a strong challenge from Prithvi Singh.
After an average first game, Singh showed promise, matching Tushar in skill and speed but was not able to go the distance due to a minor injury he picked up during the game. Tushar advanced to the semi-finals with an 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 scoreline.