KS Arihant Cruises Into Round of 16 at Telangana Squash Open in Secunderabad
Top-seeded K.S. Arihant of Tamil Nadu advanced to the men's round of 16 at the NMDC Telangana Squash Open Championship after a dominant straight-sets victory at the Secunderabad Club in Secunderabad on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Arihant defeated Gautham Atmakur of Karnataka with a seamless 11-3, 11-2, 11-0 scoreline in the men's round of 32. The victory solidified his position as the tournament's top seed.
Several other men's round of 32 matches concluded on Saturday. Sankalp Anand of Delhi defeated Maharashtra’s Aayush Verma in a five-game battle, winning 12-10, 5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-5. Vaibhav Chauhan of Services defeated Mehul Kumar, also of Services, 11-4, 11-2, 11-9. Services player Ranjit Singh defeated Karnataka's Sajid Khan 11-7, 11-3, 11-3, while Kunal Singh of Madhya Pradesh beat Ashish Keskar of Services 11-6, 11-4, 11-6. Abinjo J. Williams of Kerala beat Aditya Singh of Uttar Pradesh 11-2, 11-9, 11-3. Jamal Sakib of Services defeated Saddam Hussain of Uttar Pradesh 11-1, 11-2, 11-5.
P.R. Sandhesh of Tamil Nadu defeated Telangana’s G. Naveen Kumar 11-4, 11-1, 11-8. Avinash Sahani of Maharashtra beat Ravik Kanjilal of Karnataka 11-5, 11-3, 11-3. Telangana’s G. Dhruv Kumar secured a victory for the host state by defeating Bihar's Rahul Kumar 11-2, 11-5, 12-10. Tamil Nadu’s L. Meyyappan advanced via a walkover, and Uttar Pradesh's S. Abhay Vasudev defeated Rishi Panwar of Rajasthan 11-4, 11-5, 11-9. Arman Darukhanawalla of Maharashtra defeated Matthew Godwin of Tamil Nadu 11-3, 11-3, 11-7, and Mohit Bhatt of Maharashtra beat Ansh Das of Karnataka 11-1, 11-4, 11-7.
The tournament also featured dynamic junior action in the Under-11 and Under-13 categories. In the Boys Under-11 category, Shivin Yuvaraj of Tamil Nadu defeated Viraat Goidani 11-2, 11-5, 12-14, 11-7. Vivaan Saravanan of Tamil Nadu beat Maharashtra's Vyaan Pandey 11-1, 11-4, 11-2. Madhya Pradesh’s Husain Dewaswala defeated Sharav Yuvaraj 11-3, 11-1, 11-4. Kandha Swamy of Tamil Nadu beat Suyash Yadav of Maharashtra 11-1, 11-1, 11-7. Maharashtra's Viraj Shinde defeated Telangana's O. Srivathsav Reddy 11-2, 11-2, 11-0, and Sk. Praneesh of Tamil Nadu beat Telangana’s Hirav Sharma 11-2, 11-0, 11-3.
In the Boys Under-13 round of 64, Jharkhand's Advait Agarwal defeated Krishank Nayak of Maharashtra 11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7. Prathamesh Tambade of Maharashtra beat Andhra Pradesh's Gedela Karthikeya Prajnesh Srikara Venidhar 11-2, 11-2, 11-7. Telangana's Eshan Shaik won his match against fellow Telangana player Aarav Varakavi 11-3, 11-3, 11-9. However, several other Telangana players faced defeats, including Sushen Saladi, who lost to Delhi's Jasvansh Singh 11-2, 11-2, 11-2, and Vivaan Nallan Chakravartula, who was defeated by Punjab’s Aaren Khanna 11-2, 11-1, 11-1.