Nafees, Bopana Make Winning Start In Asian Junior Squash

Nafees, Bopana make winning start in Asian Junior Squash (Image Source: IANS)

Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships: Yusha Nafees and Dhruv Bopana won their respective opening-round matches in the 31st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday. Sixth seed Nafees beat local challenger Ubaid Ullah 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-4 in the Boys’ U-17 category, while Bopana put it past Iranian Amirreza Alvansaz Yazdi 11-4, 11-2, 11-7 in the Boys’ U-13 section.

Lokesh Subramani lost to Sim Yeak Wei in the first round in the Boys’ U-15 section, with the Malaysian winning 7-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-2.

The other Indians in the fray received first-round byes.

India will be 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 Shiven Agarwal and Aadya Budhia the second seeds among Boys’ U-15 and Girls’ U-13 respectively.