World Junior Squash Championships (Quito,Ecuador) - Day 1

The Indian team had a good start at the World Junior Men’s Squash Championships in Quito, Ecuador with 4 players progressing into the top 32 stage after 2 rounds on day 1.

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The contingent comprising Aditya Jagtap, Ravi Dixit, Ramit Tandon, Abhishek Pradhan, Mahesh Mangaonkar and coach Cyrus Poncha arrived a week prior to the championships for acclimatization. This has been beneficial as it is the first time the Indian boys are playing at an altitude of 9000 feet above sea level.

The quartet of Aditya, Ramit, Ravi and Karan advanced to the round of 32 without too much trouble. Ravi survived a small hiccup but pulled through to join Aditya and Ramit who notched up straight game victories. The notable achievement was Karan Malik who defeated higher ranked Tom de Mulder from Belgium in four games. Karan was fitter and more consistent than his opponent. Mahesh went down to England’s top seed Charles Sharpes in a keenly contested four games while Abhishek lost to a fast moving Ricardo from Mexico in straight games.

Round 1Aditya Jagtap byeRamit Tandon byeRavi Dixit byeAbhishek Pradhan bt Jake Davison (Aus) 11-5, 11-5, 11-2Karan Malik bt Juan Camilo Vargas (Col) 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Luis Flores Muyshondt (Gua) 11-4, 11-7, 11-3

Round 2Aditya Jagtap bt Jeong Dae Hoon (Kor) 11-4, 11-4, 11-1Ramit Tandon bt Tamataka Endo (Jap) 11-1, 11-3, 11-7Ravi Dixit bt Alfonso Marroquin (Col) 11-9, 11-5, 1-11, 11-5Karan Malik bt Tom de Mulder (Bel) 6-11, 11-9, 11-1, 11-5Abhishek Pradhan lost to Ricardo Lopez Valdivia (Mex) 9-11, 7-11, 6-11Mahesh Mangaonkar lost to Charles Sharpes (Eng) 10-12, 11-9, 7-11, 1-11