India beat Switzerland to open SDAT Squash World Cup campaign

Tournament hosts India made a convincing start to their SDAT Squash World Cup campaign after overcoming debutants Switzerland in Chennai’s Express Avenue Mall.

Joining India in recording day one victories were Japan – who overcame a spirited showing from debutants Islamic Republic of Iran – and top seeds Hong Kong, China, who got the better of Asian rivals Republic of Korea.

India, bronze medallists in 2023, have assembled a squad combining youth and experience, with Chennai locals Joshna Chinappa, 39, Abhay Singh, 27, Velavan Senthilkumar, 27, joined by Delhi’s teen star Anahat Singh, 17.

Up first for India today was Indian national champion Senthilkumar, who faced Robin Gadola.

Gadola, part of the Swiss team that has won bronze medals at the last two editions of the World Squash Team Championships, started the opening match well and earned two game balls at 6-4.

Senthilkumar dug in brilliantly, though, winning three consecutive points to come through the sudden death tie break before repeating the trick in game two and then edging game three to earn a 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 win.

From here, India pressed home their advantage, with Anahat Singh blowing away Céline Walser, followed by wins for Abhay Singh and Chinappa over Louai Hafez and Stella Kaufmann.

India National Coach Harinder Pal Sandhu said afterwards: “It feels good to get that first win. The first match is always a bit nervy, playing in front of a home crowd with a lot of people supporting so it’s good to get all of that out in the first match.

“Going forward we’re going to be really hungry and there’s going to be a lot of desire. We’re hoping to do well!

“As head coach, there is a responsibility and expectation on my shoulders but I’m enjoying the role and I hope whatever little guidance and help I’ve given can benefit the team.”

In the day’s opening tie, top seeds Hong Kong, China, lived up to their billing with a confident victory against Republic of Korea.

Henry Leung got his side off to a solid start with a 3-1 win over Ko Youngjo before first strings Tomato Ho and Alex Lau recorded rapid-fire wins over Eum Hwayeong and Ryu Jeongmin, with Ka Yi Lee then finishing things off with a watchful 3-1 win against Song Chaewon.

“We’re not thinking too much about the seeding as we didn’t want to put pressure on ourselves. We’re just going to put 100 percent into playing the tournament!” Leung said afterwards.

In arguably the most entertaining tie of the day, Japan got the better of World Cup first timers Iran, despite a stubborn rearguard from Iran’s female representatives Fatemeh Falahati and Fereshteh Eghtedari.

The tie seemed to be proceeding serenely for the No.4 seeds when Tomotaka Endo made short work of Pouya Shafiefard to give Japan the lead.

Up next, World No.6 Satomi Watanabe – World No.6 and recently crowned World Games champion – went in as clear favourite over World No.228 Eghtedari, only to be rocked by an inspired performance from the 26-year-old who came within three points of recording one of squash’s greatest ever upsets.

Watanabe took game one 7-4 only for Eghtedari to strike back brilliantly, with the Iranian attacking without fear as she left the tournament’s highest ranked player reeling with a well-deserved pair of 7-3 wins.

Eghtedari started game four well before Watanabe eventually recovered her composure, with the Japan No.1 levelling the match with a 7-4 win and then cruising home against her shattered opponent 7-1 in the decider.

Japan’s men’s No.1 Ryunosuke Tsukue quickly closed the door on Iran’s fightback with a crushing 7-2, 7-2, 7-0 win against Sepehr Etemadpour.

In the tie’s final match, Iran’s Fatemeh Falahati followed Eghtedari’s example and took a surprise lead against Akari Midorikawa, only for the 20-year-old to settle, with Midorikawa making it four wins from four for Japan with a 4-7, 7-3, 7-3, 7-2 victory.

Reflecting on her epic with Watanabe, Eghtedari said: “I’m so happy with this performance. This is our first time playing in the World Cup and it’s very exciting to be here. I tried so hard and I’m just happy with my performance. We are very ready to keep pushing!”

The SDAT Squash World Cup resumes tomorrow, 10 December, at 10:30 at Express Avenue Mall, Chennai. Watch the action live on the Olympic Channel, ANOC TV, WORLDSQUASH.TV and the streaming platforms of the Squash Rackets Federation of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu.

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Results: SDAT Squash World Cup Pools Stage

Pool A

Hong Kong, China 4-0 Republic of Korea

Henry Leung bt Ko Youngjo 3-1: 7-3, 3-7, 7-6, 7-2 (26m)

Tomato Ho bt Eum Hwayeong 3-0: 7-5, 7-6, 7-5 (17m)

Alex Lau bt Ryu Jeongmin 3-0: 7-2, 7-5, 7-2 (18m)

Ka Yi Lee bt Song Chaewon 3-1: 7-3 5-7 7-5 7-2 (21m)

Pool B

India 4-0 Switzerland

Velavan Senthilkumar bt Robin Gadola 3-0: 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 (27m)

Anahat Singh bt Céline Walser 3-0: 7-1, 7-4, 7-2 (13m)

Abhay Singh bt Louai Hafez 3-0: 7-0, 7-5, 7-3 (33m)

Joshna Chinappa bt Stella Kaufmann 3-1: 7-1, 5-7, 7-2, 7-0 (18m)

Pool D

Japan 4-0 Islamic Republic of Iran

Tomotaka Endo bt Pouya Shafiefard 3-0: 7-5, 7-1, 7-0 (16m)

Satomi Watanabe bt Fereshteh Eghtedari 3-2: 7-4, 3-7, 3-7, 7-4, 7-1 (28m)

Ryunosuke Tsukue bt Sepehr Etemadpour 3-0: 7-2, 7-2, 7-0 (15m)

Akari Midorikawa bt Fatemeh Falahati 3-1: 4-7, 7-3, 7-3, 7-2 (19m)