Sandhu enters national squash semis

Reigning champion Harinder Pal Sandhu of Tamil Nadu overpowered experienced Gaurav Nandrajog of Delhi in four games to earn a semifinal berth in the men's event of the 63rd National Squash Championship here on Friday.

Joining him in the last four were top seed Saurav Ghosal, promising talent Kush Kumar and Ravi Dixit, all from Tamil Nadu.

In the women's section, there were two upsets. School girl Sunayna Kuruvilla of Tamil Nadu ousted Urwashi Joshi of Maharashtra in straight games while Akansksha Salunkhe of Goa showed the exit for Lakshya Ragavendran of Tamil Nadu in four games.

Completing the women's semi-final line-up were the top seed and defending champion Joshna Chinappa (Tamil Nadu) and second seed Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Delhi).

The results (quarterfinals):

Men: Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Velavan Senthilkumar (TN) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8; Kush Kumar (TN) bt Sandeep Jangra (Del) 12-10, 11-5, 13-11; Ravi Dixit (TN) bt Vijay Kumar (TN) 11-3, 11-5, 13-11; Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (TN) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) 14-12, 11-8, 14-16, 12-10.

Women: Joshana Chinappa (TN) bt Anandita Gupta (MP) 11-4, 11-4, 11-2; Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN) bt Urwashi Joshi (Mah)11-9, 14-12, 11-4; Akanksha Salunkhe (Goa) bt Lakshya Ragavendran (TN) 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7; Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Del) bt Jannat Duhan (Chand) 11-1, 11-4, 11-5.