Arun, Mehul rally to enter last 16 at squash meet

Arun Sharma fought back from the brink to defeat his Maharashtra state mate Tejas Sathare in five games and enter the men's pre-quarterfinals of the GSC- All India Squash Open here.

Sharma trailed 0-2 before hitting the straps and carve out a 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 victory to enter the last 16 at the suburban Goregaon Sports Club.

Likewise, Services Mehul Kumar fought back from 1-2 to overcome the stiff challenge from Miheer Prakash of Maharashtra for a 11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4 win and also entered the last 16.

In contrast, the top two seeds, Abhishek Pradhan and Abhshek Agarwal - both from Maharashtra - were in their elements as they routed their respective rivals in straight games to advance into the pre-quarters without much ado.

So, too, were the top two seeds in the boys under-17 group, Abhishek Kumar from Chandiragh and Mohit Bhatt from Maharashtra, both of who stormed into the quarterfinals with straight-game verdicts.

Results: Men (Round of 32): (2)- Abhishek Agarwal (MH) bt Sumit Kumar (DL) 11-4, 11-2, 11-7; Deepak Tiwari (MH) bt Rounak Yadav (SER) 11-5, 13-11, 2-11, 11-6; Rutvik Rau (MH) bt Awdesh Yadav (SER) 7-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-4; Rohit Kadam (MH) bt Souvik Banerjee (MH) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5; Arun Sharma (MH) bt Tejas Sakhare (MH) 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3; Jamal Sakib (SER) bt Vikas Lath (MH) 11-5, 11-3, 11-3; Mehul Kumar (SER) bt Miheer Prakash (MH) 11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4; Soumik Banerjee (MH) bt Abhinav Thyagarajan (MH) 13-11, 11-8, 11-5; P Amar Singh (MH) bt Rahul Vasishtha (DL) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7; Ravi Dixit (SER) bt Puneet Pareek (MH) 11-3, 11-4, 11-8; (1)- Abhishek Pradhan (MH) bt Shanay Dharod (MH) 11-1, 11-7, 11-2.

Boys U-17: (Pre-quarterfinals): (1)- Abhishek Kumar (CH) bt Shreyansh Agarwal (MH) 11-3, 11-3, 11-8; Jay Vaknallim (MH) bt Amaan Habibulla (MH) bt 11-1, 11-8, 11-3; Gaurav Kumar (UP) bt Ahaan Bhansali (MH)9-11, 11-3, 13-15, 11-4, 11- 8; Arman Darukhanwalla (MH) bt Pratinav Deb (MH) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4; Arnav Mandhana (MH) bt Arnav Khot (MH) 11-4, 11-8, 11-9; Jeb Pandole (MH) bt Rohan Potdar (MH) 11-3, 11-8, 11-4; Nakashtra Sharma (RJ) bt Shaan Singh (RJ) 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7;(2)- Mohit Bhatt (MH) bt Sunny Yadav (MH) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4.