Senthilkumar in CYG squash semis

Unseeded Velavan Senthilkumar of India moved into the semi-finals of the men's singles event of the squash competitions in the Commonwealth Youth Games, here on Monday with an upset 3-1 win over seeded Luke Jones of New Zealand.

Senthilkumar, a trainee of the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, was outstanding though he briefly dropped guard to lose the initial steam.

But varying his pace and keeping the rallies long, the Indian had his Kiwi opponent run out of stamina to script a 12-10, 3-11, 11-6, 11-5, win to make it to the semi-finals where he faces top seed Malaysian Eain Yow Ng.

Earlier, Senthilkumar made short work of Jason Michale Samuel Doyle of St Vincent and Grenadines 11-4, 11-4, 11-6, in the first round.

However, it was mixed fortune for India with the women's representative Harshit Jawanda falling by the way side after the first round.

Seeded 3-4, the Indian defeated Susanna Armano 11-2, 11-5, 11-8 in the first round, but failed against Pakistan's Sadia Gul who took advantage of the young and inexperienced Indian.