Odense (Denmark), Oct 1 (Inditop.com) India defeated Austria 2-1 in their 17-24 playoff match at the World Men’s Team Championship Squash here.
The Indian team got off to a good start here Wednesday night after Harinder Singh laid a perfect foundation, hitting winners from all corners of the court, to give his team the lead by beating Jakob Dirnberger 11-5, 13-11, 11-9.
Ritwik Bhattacharya, not playing his best, lost 8-11, 9-11, 9-11 to the Austrian top seed Aqeel Rehman.
But India’s No.4 Gaurav Nandrajog played steady drives and comprehensively won 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 against Stefan Brauneis to give India their first victory in the play off.
Earlier in the tournament, India, seeded 9th, finished third in their pool behind Italy (8) and Scotland (17), defeating only Venezuela.
The Indian team had suffered a double shock prior to the tournament. Minutes before boarding their flight from India to Denmark, Siddharth Suchde, already in England, called saying he had torn a ligament in his knee and was forced to withdraw from the championship. Reserve Nandrajog was then called up, who managed to get his visa within a day.
The night before the start of the championship, Saurav Ghosal, walking down the steps, ended up with a severe ankle sprain and was ruled out.
To make matters worse, the depleted Indian team crashed to a shock defeat against Scotland that put paid to their hopes of progressing in the championship.
rounak