Akanksha Salunkhe Advances to Second Round at Western India Slam Squash
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Mumbai, Dec 19 (NationPress) India’s top-seeded Akanksha Salunkhe overcame compatriot Tanvi Khanna in a thrilling women’s second-round match of the 79th Western India Slam, part of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Challenger series with a prize pool of USD 9,000, held at the CCI courts on Thursday. Salunkhe secured her victory with scores of 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, and 12-10. In another remarkable match, Hong Kong’s Bobo Lam pulled off an upset by defeating fourth seed Colette Sultana from Malta with scores of 9-11, 11-3, 11-2, and 11-9 in the women's category.
In the men’s bracket, Serbia’s top seed Viktor Byrtus triumphed over India’s Suraj Kumar Chand with a decisive score of 11-6, 11-7, and 11-4. Byrtus showed his skills and dominance throughout the match.
Earlier, former champion Janet Vidhi from India faced a tough match against Malaysia’s Vinikasheinie Kulasegaran but emerged victorious with a clean 3-0 win in the first round of the USD 9,000 prize-money event.
Vidhi had a challenging start but managed to clinch the first game in extra points, followed by a close second game before gaining momentum to comfortably win the third game, finishing with scores of 12-10, 11-8, and 11-3 in just 21 minutes to progress to the second round.
Additionally, Tanvi Khanna of India also advanced to the second round, defeating Serbia’s Jelena Dutina in a swift match with scores of 11-4, 11-2, and 11-2, completing the game in a mere 14 minutes.
Results - Women (round 2): Bobo Lam (HKG) bt. 4-Colette Sultana (MLT) 9-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-9; 5-Jana Swaify (EGY) bt. Janet Vidhi (IND) 11-1, 11-3, 11-2; 1-Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) bt. Tanvi Khanna (IND) 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 12-10; Sze Wing Wai (HKG) bt. 7-Tamara Holzbauerová (CZE)3-0: 12-10, 11-4, 11-9; Sunita Patel (IND) bt. Mahak Talati (IND) 11-1, 11-2, 11-1; Pooja Arthi Raghu (IND) bt. Mehak Dinesh Gupta (IND) 11-2, 11-1, 11-1.
Men (round 2): 1-Viktor Byrtus (CZE) bt. Suraj Kumar Chand (IND) 11-6, 11-7, 11-4; 7-Wailok To (HKG) bt. Tay Jun Qian (MAS) 11-6, 12-10, 11-4; Abhishek Pradhan (IND) bt. Shamil Wakeel (SRI) 4-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-7; Rahul Baitha (IND) bt. 8-Shing Fung Lam (HKG) 4-11, 12-10, 17-15, 11-3; 4-Rowan Damming (NED) bt. Lap Man Au (HKG) 11-2, 12-10, 7-11, 11-5.
