Top Pairs Advance to Semifinals in National Squash Doubles

The third National Doubles Squash Championship heated up in Chennai with several top pairs punching their semifinal tickets on Thursday at the Indian Squash Academy. Leading the charge were reigning men's doubles champions Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar, who crushed Shubham and Vedant Patel 11-4, 11-2 in the quarterfinals to remain on course for back-to-back titles. Abhay was equally busy in mixed doubles, teaming up with Radhika Sealan to overcome a first-game setback against Ravi Dixit and Janet Vidhi. Their 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 triumph highlighted mental toughness and tactical shifts that turned the tide. Men's doubles delivered edge-of-the-seat drama elsewhere: Ravi Dixit and Vikas Mehra prevailed 11-7, 10-12, 11-7 over Matthew Godwin and Navneet Prabhu. Guhan Senthilkumar and Sandesh PR from Tamil Nadu fought back to beat Harendra Sandhu and Om Semwal 11-7, 2-11, 11-8, while Rahul Baitha and Suraj Chand made light work of Dinesh AR and Mayappan EL 11-6, 11-6. Women's doubles Group A saw Joshna Chinappa and Radhika Sealan, the experienced top seeds, dispatch Sahana Kalavanan and Sangammitra Shanmugam 11-2, 11-7. Rivals Ananya Narayan and Anika Dubey were even more ruthless, winning 11-2, 11-1 against the same pair. In mixed doubles, Velavan and Joshna Chinappa asserted dominance with an 11-4, 11-5 victory over Roshan Rajkumar and Sahana Kalavanan. Suraj Chand paired with Nirupama Dubey for a 11-9, 12-10 squeaker against Navneet Prabhu and Pooja Arati. Rahul Baitha and Anika Dubey staged a comeback win 10-12, 11-6, 11-8 over Sandesh PR and Shamima Riyaz. Wednesday's highlights included Guhan and Sandesh's 11-1, 11-2 thrashing of Naman Surana and Pranav Agarwal in men's doubles round of 16, and Ravi Dixit-Janet Vidhi's 4-11, 11-5, 11-8 mixed doubles success against Dinesh AR and Ananya Narayan. Semifinal matchups are set to electrify the academy.