Kush Kumar reaches quarter-finals in Atlanta Open
Indian squash ace Kush Kumar carried on his impeccable form to the PSA World Tour as he clinched a berth in the quarter-finals of the $10,000 Life Time Atlanta Open 2016 late on Thursday. The 19-year-old, who has been seeded fourth at this tournament, comfortably beat Canadian qualifier Albert Shoihet, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7 in his opening round.
The World No. 91 next faces the eight seeded South African Clinton Leeuw for a place in the semi-finals.
The former World Junior Squash Championships bronze medallist played a key role in India’s gold medal-winning campaign at the South Asian Games in February. After India and Pakistan were tied at 1-1 in the Men’s Team Championships, Kush put up a stupendous performance to topple the much higher-ranked Farhan Zaman, 11-3, 11-8, 12-10 to bring home the gold.
Kush would surely be looking to use that confidence to do well in the PSA circuit now.
Sachika Ingale bows out of Seattle Open
Meanwhile, Kush’s compatriot, Sachika Ingale did not share the same fortune as she crashed out of the $10,000 Seattle Open in the first round. The 21-year-old failed to put up any resistance to the eighth seed Rachel Arnold of Malaysia and succumbed to a 3-11, 4-11, 2-11 defeat in just 15 minutes.
Ingale was the only Indian playing at this tournament.