Indian squash player Veer Chotrani, ranked 47th globally, was defeated by French fourth seed Baptiste Masotti in a thrilling five-game match at the Hamburg Open, a PSA Bronze-level event. Despite Chotrani’s efforts to stage comebacks, Masotti, ranked 19th in the world, secured a 12-10, 9-11, 14-12, 9-11, 11-6 victory after 69 minutes of play.
Chotrani had earlier caused an upset by beating the 8th seed and local favorite Kandra in straight games. Dominating the match from start to finish, he secured an 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 win in just 30 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.
However, Chotrani’s compatriots, fifth seed Abhay Singh and seventh seed Ramit Tandon, were eliminated in the second round. Singh was defeated by Sam Todd from England with a score of 9-11, 11-7, 4-11, 2-11, while Tandon lost to Balazs Farkas from Hungary with a score of 10-12, 11-4, 5-11, 9-11.
In the women’s category, former world No. 10 Joshna Chinappa was beaten by eighth seed Joelle King, who won 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4. Spain’s Marta Dominguez also secured a spot in the quarterfinals of a Bronze event for the first time by defeating the sixth seed Malliff.
French player Sam Todd, who has already won two copper-level titles this season, advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Abhay Singh. Todd will now face the tournament’s No.3 seed Fares Dessouky in the next round.
