Gold Medal Indian Junior Open Squash Championship: Ten Rajasthan players reach quarterfinals

Jaipur: As many as ten players from Rajasthan won their pre-quarterfinal matches and booked last-8 berths of their respective age groups in the Gold Medal Indian Junior Open Squash Championship being played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium courts here on Wednesday.In the Under-19 girls, Rajasthan's Ritwika Singh Bundela made it to the last eight with a walkover against Saanvi Bater. In the Under-17 boys, Subhash Chaudhary defeated Arnab Khandelwal 3-0 to enter the quarters. Rajasthan's Farid Andrawi rallied back superbly to down Malaysian player Joven Jia Chen Chong 6-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-2, 11-6 in a tough five-set match to enter the last eight in the Under-15 boys section. In the girls category, Gauri Jaiswal fought hard against Aroma of Uttar Pradesh in the pre-quarterfinals and won 11-3, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8. Divyanshi Jain of Rajasthan edged past Swara Trehan 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-1 to enter the last eight in the Under-13 girls group, while in the boys category, Om Thakur trounced Vihaan Khemani 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 and Prabhav Bajoria prevailed over Ridan Gupta 11-4, 11-9, 11-8 to move up. In the Under-11 girls, Gauravi Ajmera of Rajasthan squeezed past Anshika Kumari 10-12, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 in an exciting encounter, while Inaya Andravi got the better of Sandhya Yadav 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 in a four-set match to advance. In the Under-11 boys category, Yuvan Verma registered a brilliant come-from-behind win against Malaysia's Keshav Prem Kumar 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 5-11, 11-9 in five sets to enter the quarters. According to Surbhi Misra, vice-president of Squash Racket Federation of India, the quarterfinal matches of boys and girls of all age categories will be played on Thursday.