SDAT Squash World Cup: India storms in quarter-final

India continued its steady run at the 2025 SDAT Squash World Cup with a clinical 3-0 win over Brazil at Chennai’s Express Avenue Mall on Thursday, setting up a quarter-final clash against South Africa on Friday.

India’s national champion Velavan Senthilkumar started on a strong note against Pedro Mometto, defeating the Brazilian 3-0 (7-5, 7-2, 7-2). The world no 45 dictated the tempo with a combination of drop shots to give India a strong opening.

Teen sensation Anahat Singh doubled the lead with an easy 3-0 (7-4, 7-0, 7-2) win against Laura Silva. Anahat, India’s top-ranked woman, is the youngest squash player in the tournament and is making her World Cup debut.

With hosts dominating the proceedings, Abhay Singh was also quick to wrap the match in India’s favor, registering 3-0 (7-3, 7-1, 7-1) win against world no 86 Diego Gobbi.

Reflecting on India’s win against Brazil, Anahat said, “I am happy. I knew it would be a good game (against Laura Silva). I have played her before as well. All three of us played well.”

“We will take it match by match and we will try to win every game we play. We have quarters tomorrow, if we win we will be assured of a bronze. Coming into the event we hoped to get better than a bronze since we already got it last time,” she added.

A total of 12 teams are divided into four groups of three and the top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. In 2023 edition, India had settled for a bronze.

Apart from India, Switzerland has progressed from Pool B. In Pool A, Hong Kong (China) and South Africa have secured their spots. Last edition’s runners-up Malaysia and Australia have advanced from Pool C, while Japan and defending champion Egypt will represent Pool D in the quarter-finals.

Results: SDAT Squash World Cup Pools Stage

Pool A: Hong Kong, China 2-2 South Africa

Pool B: India 4-0 Brazil

Pool C: Malaysia 3-1 Australia

Pool D: Japan 1-3 Eqypt