Top seed Dixit leads fancied fray
Maharashtra duo Divit Poojary and Rahul Arora also earned hard-fought wins with Arora being taken the distance by West Bengal's Ayush Barmecha.
Top seed Ravi Dixit of Haryana led the favourites into the men’s third round, in the 74th CCI-Western India Open Squash Tournament, at the Cricket Club of India.
Former Asian junior champion Dixit, who along with the other fancied players earned a first round bye, warmed up with a straight sets win along with second seed Gaurav Nandrajog of Delhi, former Asian team gold and India under-19 world championship bronze winner Abhishek Pradhan, Vikas Jangra of Delhi, man-in-form with three successive titles Aditya Jagtap of Mumbai and CCI duo Ness Billimoria and Abhinav Sinha.
It was 5/8 seed Sandeep Jangra of the Services who endured the opening round blues before prevailing over Vrishabh Kotian 11-9, 11-13, 11-8, 11-4 in the closest contest of the day. Jangra relied on experience and a fierce forehand to rally following a tight opening game and the loss of the second over extra-points.
Maharashtra duo Divit Poojary and Rahul Arora also earned hard-fought wins with Arora being taken the distance by West Bengal’s Ayush Barmecha.