Suchude through to Rhode Island Open quarters

Unseeded Indian Siddharth Suchude moved into the quarterfinals of the Rhode Island Open squash tournament in the US, beating Malaysia’s Muhd Asyraf Azan in a tough five-game affair.

However, it was curtains for ace players Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal in the Qatar Squash Classic Open in Doha after the duo made first round exit in the men’s and women’s event respectively.

Suchde, a Harvard graduate now based in the UK, had to overcome a stiff challenge from sixth seeded Azan but eventually came out victorious 12-10 11-7 7-11 8-11 11-6 in the pre-quarterfinals of the USD 10,000 event.

The 24-year old from Mumbai will now face fourth seeded Liam Kenny of Ireland.

Meanwhile in the Qatar Squash Classic in Doha, both the qualifiers - Ghosal and Pallikal failed to carry on their form and went down without a fight against their higher ranked opponents.

Ghosal was trounced by sixth seeded Englishman James Willstrop 10-12 10-12 4-11 in just 44 minutes in the USD 147,500 men’s event while Pallikal was no match for seventh seed Laura Massaro of England 9-11 5-11 10-12 in the USD 74,000 women’s section.