Six Indians win, three lose on opening day of Squash meet

North Palmerston, New Zealand, July 17 (UNI) Spearheaded by Naresh Kumar and Parth Sharma, six Indians cruised into the second round while three fell by the wayside on the opening day of the 14th World Junior Men's Squash Championship here today.

Naresh Kumar, playing his first event after winning in Penang, continued his good form to defeat local favourite Bryce Redman.

The eight degree temperature has been a bit of concern for the entire contingent as it is very different from playing in India.

However, all coped well and won their matches in straight games.

Parth Sharma chalked an easy win over Australian Nathan Kam, while Harinderpal Singh Sandhu overpowered Hong Kong's Ji Yang Fund.

The Squash and Racquet Federation of India decided to give exposure to their top two under-15 players -- Ravi Dixit and Ramit Tandon. Ravi played against Asian champion Max Lee and kept him on court for 32 minutes. Ravi retreived many shots which unnerved Max.

However, Max was top strong and won comfortably.

Ramit progressed due to a walk over.

Results (Indians): Naresh Kumar bt Bryce Redman (NZ) 9-5, 9-0, 9-4; Parth Sharma bt Nathan Kam (Aus) 9-7, 9-0, 9-1; Harinderpal Singh Sandhu bt Ji Yang Fund (HK) 9-3, 9-5, 9-4; Vikram Malhotra bt Ahmed Hassan (ZIM) 9-3, 9-2, 9-4; Ramit Tandon bt Omar Al-Jam'aan (KUW) W/O; Sandeep Jangra bt Alan Tsang (HK) 9-2, 9-0, 9-3; Manek Mathur lost Kam Hing Choong (Mas) 7-9, 0-9, 8-10; Ravi Dixit lost Max Lee (HK) 3-9, 2-9, 1-9; Naishadh Lalwani lost Todd Harrity (USA) 4-9, 2-9, 4-9.

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