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India's Veer Chotrani produced a stirring comeback to defeat compatriot Abhay Singh in an all-Indian opening-round clash at the 2026 World Squash Championships in Giza, Egypt, on Friday.
World No. 45 Chotrani fought back from 2-1 down to overcome India's top-ranked men's player and world No. 22 Abhay 3-2 (14-12, 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-2) at the Palm Hills Club and PGC Golf Central Mall, according to Olympics.com. The victory marked Chotrani's second win over Abhay in three meetings and secured him a place in the second round, where he will face defending champion and world No. 1 Mostafa Asal of Egypt. The match began with a fiercely contested opening game, with Chotrani edging the tie-break 14-12 to seize the early advantage. Abhay, an Asian Games medallist, responded strongly and took control of the contest by winning the next two games 11-8 and 11-5. With momentum firmly against him, Chotrani raised his intensity in the fourth game, tightening his control on rallies and forcing errors from Abhay to level the match with an 11-7 win. The decider, however, turned into a one-sided affair as Chotrani dominated from the outset and wrapped up the fifth game 11-2 to complete an impressive turnaround. India have fielded a four-member men's contingent at this year's championships. Apart from Chotrani and Abhay, Ramit Tandon and Velavan Senthilkumar are also in action in Giza. Velavan Senthilkumar, the reigning World Cup gold medallist, is set to face France's sixth seed and world No. 5 Victor Crouin in his opening-round encounter on Saturday. World No. 40 Ramit Tandon will take on Egypt's Kareem El Torkey in another first-round match. India are still searching for their first singles medal at the World Squash Championships. The sport is scheduled to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. (ANI)
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