Yusha Nafees Leads Strong Indian Challenge Into Asian Junior Squash Quarters

Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships: Yusha Nafees led a strong Indian challenge into the quarterfinals of the 31st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships here on Wednesday as seven of his compatriots also won their second-round matches across various age groups.

The sixth-seeded Nafees beat Iranian Md Saleh Akhani 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in the Boys’ U-17 section, while second-seed Shiven Agarwal defeated local challenger Rayyan Bahadur 11-9, 11-1, 11-5 in the Boys’ U-15 category.

Earlier, Nafees beat local challenger Ubaid Ullah 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-4 in the first round of the Boys’ U-17 category.

India is being represented by a strong 11-member squad in the event which started on Tuesday and will continue for five days.

Nine of the players are seeded in the top 10 in their respective age-group categories, with Agarwal and Aadya Budhia the second seeds among Boys’ U-15 and Girls’ U-13 respectively.

Other Indian results (second round):

Boys – U-13: Dhruv Bopana lost to Huzaifa Shahid (Pak) 9-11, 9-11, 4-11. Girls – U-13: 4-Goushika M bt Maliha Shah (Pak) 11-3, 11-3, 11-3; 2-Aadya Budhia bt Sadia Zahoor Khan (Pak) 11-2, 11-6, 11-1; U-15: 8-Anika Dubey bt Wong Suet Ling (HK) 11-5, 11-1, 11-4; 9-Diva Shah bt Chung Ka Yau (HK) 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9; U-17: 6-Unnati Tripathi bt Kavithma Senomi Silva (SL) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4; U-19: 5-Nirupama Dubey bt Abhitha Shanmuganathan (Mas) 11-4, 11-9, 11-8; 8-Shameena Riaz lost to Anrie Goh (Mas) 5-11, 1-11, 2-11.