Junaid braves back pain to pip Uditraj at squash meet

Delhi’s Junaid Muzaffar <g data-gr-id="13">Thoker</g> braved back pain to win 3-2 against Uditraj Singh Rathore of Madhya Pradesh in the boys’ under-19 third round match of the Rs 6 lakh prize money All-India NSCI Junior Open Squash tournament here on Monday.

Despite sustaining a back strain on the left side during the first game, Junaid kept battling on through determination. After losing the first two games, he took a five-minute injury break. He then slowed down the pace to completely upset the momentum of his opponent at the NSCI courts at Worli. Junaid won the third game over extra points to turn things around and then went on to win the next two to close out the match at 8-11 11-13 12-10 11-9 11-7. Top seed Yohan Darius <g data-gr-id="15">Pandole</g> of Maharashtra breezed past his statemate Arnav Parikh 11-2 11-0 11-3 without much ado in another boys’ U-19 match.

In the boys’ under-13 section, Jeh <g data-gr-id="14">Pandole</g> of Maharashtra was shocked by in straight games by Jay Vaknalli with the winner reaching the quarterfinals.