Bangamata Squash Tournament RD1: Busy First Day In Chittagong

The first round of the Bangamata Squash Tournament – Presented by SA Group took place on Friday at the Chittagong Club, with 14 matches taking place across the opening day.

Due to some late withdrawals, the top two seeds, in Egypt’s Yassin Elshafei and India’s Abhishek Agarwal, both received byes through to the second round of the competition. There were also a couple of walkovers in the opening round, but there was still plenty of action in Chittagong.

The biggest surprise result of the day saw No.13 seed Rounak Yadav knocked out by Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri, after he won in 22 minutes. The other unseeded player through to the second round is Kuwait’s Athbi Hamad, after he defeated Iran’s Ali Taj in straight games.

Just one match went past three games, with No.12 seed Ravi Dixit needing a fourth game to take his match against Bangladeshi wildcard Md Shumon to its conclusion. Dixit will now play No.2 seed Agarwal in the last 16.

The action continues at the Chittagong Club in Bangladesh on Saturday, March 19, with quarter final places being set.

First Round Results: Bangamata Squash Tournament – Presented by SA Group
[15] Jaideep Singh Sethi (IND) bt [WC] Md Saiful Mia (BAN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 (41m)
[WC] MD Shorif (BAN) bt [10] Ziad Ibrahim (EGY): Walkover
[5] Noor Zaman (PAK) bt [WC] Md Shahadat Hossain (BAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (21m)
[7] Hamza Sharif (PAK) bt Hamza Ibn Saleheen (BAN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-1, 11-5 (21m)
Athbi Hamad (KUW) bt Ali Taj (IRI) 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 (18m)
Jamal Sakib (IND) bt [14] Haseeb Taj (PAK): Walkover
[4] Alireza Shameli (IRI) bt [WC] Abid Mansur (BAN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 (24m)
[3] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) bt [WC] Faiaz Rahman (BAN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-1 (15m)
[11] Rahul Baitha (IND) bt [WC] Md Shahidul Islam (BAN) 3-0: 11-8, 12-10, 11-3 (30m)
[9] Hamza Khan (PAK) bt [WC] Runny Debnath (BAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 (12m)
[6] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) bt Md Masum Ahmmad (BAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-0, 11-7 (20m)
[8] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) bt [16] Varun Johnny (IND) 3-0: 11-0, 11-2, 11-1 (11m)
Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt [13] Rounak Yadav (IND) 3-0: 11-0, 11-5, 11-5 (22m)
[12] Ravi Dixit (IND) bt [WC] Md Shumon (BAN) 3-1: 11-5, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6 (31m)

Second Round Draw: To Be Played Saturday, March 19
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) v [15] Jaideep Singh Sethi (IND)
[WC] MD Shorif (BAN) v [5] Noor Zaman (PAK)
[7] Hamza Sharif (PAK) v Athbi Hamad (KUW)
Jamal Sakib (IND) v [4] Alireza Shameli (IRI)
[3] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) v [11] Rahul Baitha (IND)
[9] Hamza Khan (PAK) v [6] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND)
[8] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) v Ravindu Laksiri (SRI)
[12] Ravi Dixit (IND) v [2] Abhishek Agarwal (IND)