Indian squash players Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar kick-started their 2024 PSA Open Squash Classic tournament with wins in their opening rounds on Sunday.
Abhay Singh, the veteran squash player, started his campaign with a win over Colombian Juan Camilo Vargas 3-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3).
Velavan, on the other hand, also started by defeating Swiss player Yannick Wilhelmi 3-1 (11-5, 12-14, 11-4, 11-6).
India’s 🇮🇳 Velavan Senthil Kumar & Abhay Singh started with a win in R1 at the Open Squash Classic PSA.💥 🇺🇲
Velavan defeated 🇨ðŸ‡Wilhelmi (11-5,12-14,11-4,11-6) and Abhay defeated 🇨🇴 Juan Camilo Vargas (11-5,7-11,11-9,11-3) to march to R2.#Squash pic.twitter.com/7Ebj01BxQB
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) October 7, 2024
Abhay was dominant in his match, starting with a strong 11-5 victory in game one. However, the Colombian came back strongly in game two, winning 11-7 and leveling the score at 1-1.
The Indian did not slip up any further, winning a closely fought game three 11-9 and then cruising to victory in the fourth game, wrapping up with an 11-3 win.
Velavan also followed a similar script as his Indian counterpart, winning his first game comfortably 11-5 but having to endure a close contest in game two, ultimately losing it 12-14.
From there, Velavan took control and dominated games three and four, winning both quite easily and advancing to the next round.
Abhay Singh will face fifth-seed Adrian Waller from England in round two, while Velavan is up against Egyptian eighth-seed Omar Mosaad in the same round.
The 2024 Open Squash Classic, held in New York, is part of the 2024-25 PSA World Events, an international squash tour organized by the PSA.