Sunayna Kuruvilla makes it to semifinals

CHENNAI: Top seed Sunayna Kuruvilla made it to the women's singles semifinal of the PSA Challenger event at the Indian squash Academy here on Tuesday. It was a day to forget for Abhay Singh, the men’s No.1 seed, as he went down to Abhishek Pradhan 0-3 (8-11, 6-11, 6-11) in the quarterfinals stage.
Sunayna defeated Urwashi Joshi 3-1 (17-15, 11-6, 11-13, 11-5) in an encounter that lasted 30 minutes.Sunayna will face Akshaya Sri who outclassed third seeded Sachika Balvani 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-2). The other semis will see Aparajitha Balamurukan locking horns against Tanvi Khanna. Aparajitha had it easy against Sachika Balvani whom she beat 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-2). Tanvi too registered a comfortable 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-6) victory over Janet Vidhi.
In the men’s category, Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu retired due to groin strain in his quarters clash against Velavan Senthilkumar. Velavan was leading 9-4 in the opening game when Harinder retired. Velavan faces Abhishek Agarwal in the semifinal. Abhishek Agarwal cruised past Kanhav Nanavati 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-5). Meanwhile, Rahul Baitha eased past Aadit Zaveri 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-1) to set up a semifinal clash with Abhishek Pradhan.
Semifinal line-up:
Men: Velavan Senthilkumar v Abhishek Agarwal, Rahul Baitha v Abhishek Pradhan;
Women: Sunayna Kuruvilla v Akshaya Sri, Aparajitha Balamurukan v Tanvi Khanna