Indian sports wrap, April 5: Velavan Senthilkumar in German Open squash quarters

SQUASH

Velavan in German Open squash quarters

National champion Velavan Senthilkumar advanced to the quarterfinals of the German Open with a 3-1 upset win over eighth seed George Parker of England in Hamburg on Thursday.

The 2023 Asian Individual silver medalist Senthilkumar scored an impressive 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9 win in 61 minutes over the higher ranked Englishman in the second round of the USD 50,000 prize money PSA World Tour Bronze event. Velavan will face No 4 seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia in the quarterfinal.

Earlier, southpaw Senthilkumar, ranked No 59 in the world, beat Yassin Elshafei of Egypt 6-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9 in 62 minutes in the first round.

– Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Balaji-Begemann enter semifinals of ATP Houston

The Indo-German pair of N Sriram Balaji and Andre Begemann moved to the semifinals of the ATP Houston Open with a dominating straight set win over India’s Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.

Continuing their good run, Balaji and Begemann, who had earlier stunned top seeds Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek of USA, picked up an easy 6-0, 6-3 quarterfinal win in 59 minutes on Thursday.

The unseeded Indo-German pair will take on fourth-seeded Australian duo of Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson in the US men’s Clay Court Championship semifinals.

The 34-year-old Balaji and Begemann hit two aces and won 86 per cent (38/44) of their first serve points.

Khade and Nedunchezhiyan succeeded in saving 50 per cent of their break points, but Balaji and Begmann were impeccable, saving all five break points against them.

-PTI