Joshna keeps punching in Australian Open squash

Joshna Chinappa kept Indian hopes alive in the Australian Open squash tournament by entering the third round here on Thursday, defeating New Zealand's Megan Craig in four games.

While Joshna advanced, the Indian challenge in the men's section ended as both Mahesh Mangaonkar and Harinder Pal Sandhu lost their respective second round matches.

The sixth seeded Joshna did not face much of a problem against 12th seed Megan even if she started off by losing the first game. But then, Joshna's biggest test is next when she faces top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong.

Seeded six, Mangaonkar was two games up before he seemed to come in the way of a storm that Australian Steve Finitsis proved to be.

Mangaonkar never recovered from that when Fintisis took the third game. He lost the next two to make his exit.

On the other hand, Sandhu was up against second seed Nafizwan Adnan of Malaysia. To his credit, Sandhu did not give in easily sharing four games before succumbing in the fifth.

The results (second round):

Men - Steve Finitsis (Aus) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar 7-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7; Nafizwan Adnan (Mal) bt Harinder Pal Sandhu 11-4, 7-11, 11-4, 13-15, 11-9.

Women: Joshna Chinappa bt Megan Craig (NZ) 5-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8.