Saurav Ghoshal outclassed the unseeded Aaron Frankcomb of Australia in the opening round of the men's PSA Indian Challenger here at the Calcutta Racket Club on Wednesday.
Saurav remained the only Indian contender in the prestigious five-star event as his compatriot Siddharth Suchde crashed out against the fourth seeded Azlan Iskandar of Malaysia.
Frankcomb, currently ranked 43 in the world, failed to make much ground as he relied too much on power. Saurav varied his shots well and won points with his crafty placements to outdo his opponent in straight games in 42 minutes.
Saurav now runs into the top seeded Adrian Grant of England, who beat compatriot Chris Simpson 3-1, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
“I need big wins to better my ranking so I'll try to give my best against Adrian,” said Saurav about his forthcoming match against the world No. 13.
The Indian women remained in good numbers in the WISPA event, being played concurrently, as the third seeded Joshna Chinappa led four Indians into the quarterfinals. Joshna put up an authoritative show against Maggy Marshall of Australia.
Dipika Pallikal also was in no mood to part with any advantage to Zephanie Curgenven of England and won in straight games to make it to the quarterfinals.
Joshna, the world No. 30 who is seeded third, will take on Gaby Schmohl of Switzerland in the quarterfinals. The Swiss player, who beat eighth seeded Anwesha Reddy of India, is in great form having moved up 75 places in the world ranking within a month's time.
Dipika, who is seeded fourth, will take on compatriot and fifth seeded Anaka Alankamony in the next round.
The results: Men's (PSA, first round): Adrian Grant (Eng) bt Chris Simpson (Eng) 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 11-7; Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) 11-4, 11-6, 11-5; Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Renan Lavigne (Fra) 11-2, 11-9, 11-7; Ong Beng Hee (Mas) bt Mohamed Asyraf Azan (Mas) 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9; Tarek Momen (Egy) bt Max Lee (Hkg) 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8; Mohd Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt Siddharth Suchde (Ind) 11-5, 11-6, 11-5; Jonathan Kemp (Eng) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-5, 11-6, 11-7; Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6.
Women's (WISPA, first round): Sharon Wee (Mas) bt Nada Elkalaawy (Egy) 12-10, 11-1, 11-6; Aparajitha Balamurukan (Ind) bt Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Ind) 11-2, 14-12, 11-4; Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Zephanie Curgenven (Eng) 11-3, 11-2, 12-10; Anaka Alankamony (Ind) bt Surbhi Misra (Ind) 8-11, 14-16, 11-6, 11-7, 11-3; Gaby Schmohl (Sui) bt Anwesha Reddy (Ind) 2-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-2; Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Maggy Marshall (Aus) 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6; Milou Van Der Heijden (Ned) bt Catalina Pelaez (Col) 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7; Emma Beddoes (Eng) bt Ankita Sharma (Ind) 11-2, 11-7, 11-6.
