Dhruv Kumar downs Rahul in straight games, Rounak comes from behind to beat Ajnav

Telangana’s Dhruv Kumar Gangashetty moved comfortably to the next round as top seeds made a strong start to their campaign at the NMDC Telangana Squash Open 2026 which commenced at the Sports Complex, Secunderabad Club, on Saturday.

In the men’s category, top seed Arihant KS (Tamil Nadu), Sandhesh PR (Tamil Nadu), Kunal Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Abhay S Vasudev (Uttar Pradesh) and Telangana’s Dhruv Kumar Gangashetty progressed comfortably to the next round. The day’s biggest thriller saw Rounak Yadav (Services) stage a remarkable comeback from two games down to defeat Ajnav Dhawan (Delhi). Rounak won 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4.

Dhruv too good for Rahul

Dhruv Kumar came through unscathed in straight games against Rahul Kumar in the Round of 32. Dhruv Kumar breezed through the first two games with comfortable ease at 11-2, 11-5. However, Rahul Kumar put up a valiant fight in the third game and stretched Dhruv. However, the Telangana player weathered the storm as he won it 12-10 to book his spot in the next round.

Telangana’s Dhruv Kumar Gangashetty came through unscathed in straight games against Rahul Kumar in the Round of 32 at the NMDC Telangana Squash Open 2026 which commenced at the Sports Complex, Secunderabad Club, on Saturday

Arman Darukhanawalla of Maharashtra pulled an upset win over Matthew Godwin of Tamil Nadu. Arman won 11-3, 11-3, 11-7.

The junior events also witnessed dominant performances, with leading contenders advancing in the Boys’ Under-11, Under-13 and Under-15 categories. Telangana players Ribhav Arya, Thanuj Reddy Puli and Eshan Shaik impressed with convincing victories, while several top-ranked players from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra also moved into the next round.

The tournament will continue until July 8. Entry is free for spectators.

Results: Boys Under-11 (Round of 64): Sahishnu V (TN) beat Vir Pai (TS) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3; Obulreddy Srivathsav Reddy (TS) beat Abhiram Gupta (DL) 11-7, 11-6, 11-9.

Round of 32: Shivin Yuvaraj (TN) beat Viraat Goidani (TN) 11-2, 11-5, 12-14, 11-7; 5/8-Vivaan Saravanan (TN) beat Avyaan Pandey (MH) 11-1, 11-4, 11-2; Husain Dewaswala (MP) beat Sharav Yuvaraj (TN) 11-3, 11-1, 11-4; Kandha Swamy (TN) beat Suyash Yadav (MH) 11-1, 11-1, 11-7; 3/4-Viraj Shinde (MH) beat Obulreddy Srivathsav Reddy (TS) 11-2, 11-2, 11-0; 9/16-Praneesh Sk (TN) beat Hirav Sharma (TS) 11-2, 11-0, 11-3.

Boys Under-13 (Round of 64): Advait Agarwal (JH) beat Krishank Nayak (MH) 11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-7; Prathamesh Tambade (MH) beat Gedela Karthikeya Prajnesh Srikara Venidhar (AP) 11-2, 11-2, 11-5; Kavin V (TN) beat Eshaan Kanna S M (TN) 11-3, 11-3, 11-4; Kavin Karthikeyan (TN) beat Abhyudai Gupta (DL) 11-3, 11-5, 11-3; Jasvansh Singh (DL) beat Sushen Saladi (TS) 11-2, 11-2, 11-2; Yuvraj Udasi (MP) beat Ravi Kumar (DL) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5; Eshan Shaik (TS) beat Aarav Varakavi (TS) 11-3, 11-3, 11-9; Aaren Khanna (PB) beat Vivaan Nallan Chakravartula (TS) 11-2, 11-1, 11-1; Advaith Thottapayil (KA) beat Shubh Varun Deshpande (TS) 11-2, 11-3, 11-5; Aman Goswami (MH) beat Moksh Fomra (TN) 11-9, 11-2, 11-6; Aditya Kumar (BR) beat Kabirruperee Mathpal (TS), 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7.

Arush Suklikar and Advik Ajmani battle it out in the boys’ U-11 category

Boys Under-15 (Round of 64): Joshan Jaylin (TN) beat Ojas Agrawal (TS) 11-2, 11-4, 11-7; Ribhav Arya (TS) beat Prem Tambade (MH) 11-1, 11-1, 11-4; Thanuj Reddy Puli (TS) beat Rishaan Jhanji (CH) 11-1, 11-7, 11-8; Jogan Jaywin (TN) beat Prem Narwade (MH) 11-1, 11-3, 11-2; Sufyan Mohammad (UP) beat Shaurya Rathee (MH) 5-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4; Siddhanth Ranjith (MH) beat Sai Madhukar Jnaneshwar (TN) 11-3, 11-1, 10-12, 11-3. Round of 32: Arav Aneja (MH) beat Rayhan Md (TN) retired.

Men (Round of 64): Gautham Atmakur (KA) beat Nikhil Biyani (JH) 11-5, 11-7, 13-11; Ashish Keskar (Ser) beat Subarna Sarkar (TS) 11-4, 11-1, 11-3; Aditya Singh (UP) beat Harshit Singh (BR) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3; Saddam Hussain (UP) beat Neeraj Kumar Singh (KA) 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8; Naveen Kumar Gandhala (TS) beat Hukum Sankhla (RJ) 11-4, 11-5, 11-8; Ravik Kanjilal (KA) beat Ishan Rajpurohit (RJ) 11-2, 11-0, 11-2; Rishi Panwar (RJ) beat Anagha Basu (MH) 11-6, 11-5, 11-4; Ajnav Dhawan (DL) beat Prateek Gwalani (TS) 11-7, 11-3, 11-2.

Round of 32: 1-Arihant KS (TN) beat Gautham Atmakur (KA) 11-3, 11-2, 11-0; Sankalp Anand (DL) beat Aayush Verma (MH) 12-10, 5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-5; 9/16-Vaibhav Chauhan (Ser) beat Mehul Kumar (Ser) 11-4, 11-2, 11-9; Ranjit Singh (Ser) beat Sajid Khan (KA) 11-7, 11-3, 11-3; 5/8-Kunal Singh (MP) beat Ashish Keskar (Ser) 11-6, 11-4, 11-6; Abinjo J Williams (KL) beat Aditya Singh (UP) 11-2, 11-9, 11-3; Jamal Sakib (Ser) beat Saddam Hussain (UP) 11-1, 11-2, 11-5; 3/Dhr4-Sandhesh PR (TN) beat Naveen Kumar Gandhala (TS) 11-4, 11-1, 11-8; Avinash Sahani (MH) beat Ravik Kanjilal (KA) 11-5, 11-3, 11-3; 9/16-Dhruv Kumar Gangashetty (TS) beat Rahul Kumar (BR) 11-2, 11-5, 12-10; Meyyappan L (TN) received a walkover; 5/8-Abhay S Vasudev (UP) beat Rishi Panwar (RJ) 11-4, 11-5, 11-9; Rounak Yadav (Ser) beat Ajnav Dhawan (DL) 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4; Arman Darukhanawalla (MH) beat 9/16-Matthew Godwin (TN) 11-3, 11-3, 11-7; Mohit Bhatt (MH) beat Ansh Das (KA) 11-1, 11-4, 11-7.