Hamburg: National champion Velavan Senthilkumar advanced to the quarterfinals of the German Open with a 3-1 upset win over eighth seed George Parker of England.
The 2023 Asian Individual silver medalist Senthilkumar scored an impressive 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9) win in 61 minutes over the higher-ranked Englishman in the second round of the USD 50,000 prize money PSA World Tour Bronze event.
Senthilkumar started the match in good form, surging into the lead, with the Englishman struggling to keep up with the pace of the Indian as Senthilkumar took the first game 11-5, according to PSA tour website.
Parker came closer in the second, fighting on every point, and scoring some pin-point accurate drops, but it was the Indian who took a two-game advantage 11-9 from maintaining consistent throughout the first two games.
Parker looked focussed on the court for the third game, and showed his quality as he pushed the Indian to another close phase of play, this time edging the game to halve the deficit.
In the end Senthilkumar held his nerve and converted his 2-1 lead, maintaining a narrow lead over the Englishman and claiming a spot in the quarter-finals where he faces No.4 seed Eain Yow Ng.
Earlier, southpaw Senthilkumar, ranked No 59 in the world, beat Yassin Elshafei of Egypt 6-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9 in 62 minutes in the first round.
–IANS
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