Velavan Senthilkumar goes down to world No 3 Paul Coll in NZ Open

Tauranga, Dec 7 Recently-crowned National squash champion Velavan Senthilkumar went down to world No 3 Paul Coll in the second round of the Lucino Vanities New Zealand Men’s Open 2023 on Thursday after beating world No 46 Shahjahan Khan 3-2 in his opening round.

Ranked 63 in the world, Senthilkumar put up a fight in the opening game of round two which the top-seeded Kiwi won 11-7 and quickly took control to win the next two games at 11-1 and 11-2.

Asian Games medallist and world No 70 Abhay Singh, who finished runner-up to Senthilkumar at the Nationals last month, also bowed out in the second round, to world No 14 Baptiste Masotti of France 8-11, 5-11, 1-11 after a spectacular 3-2 win over world No 54 Andrew Douglas in his opening match.

Meanwhile, world No 75 Akanksha Salunkhe lost to Malaysian world No 51 Aira Azman 3-0 in the opening round of the Barfoot & Thompson New Zealand Open for women.

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