A five-member Indian contingent will have their task cut out as the 2024-25 PSA World Championships starts in Chicago, USA on Friday.

India has never won a medal at the Squash World Championships and the onus will be on the likes of the 17-year-old Anahat Singh in women’s singles, Ramit Tandon, Velavan Senthilkumar, Abhay Singh, and Veer Chotrani in men’s singles to do the unthinkable.

Three out of the five Indians in contention – Ramit, Velavan, and Abhay – qualified for the PSA World Championships via world rankings, whereas Anahat and Veer had to slug it out in the Asian Qualification event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last month.

With just one spot on offer both Anahat and Veer won the women’s singles and men’s singles events respectively to book their flight to Chicago.

Veer, all set to make his World Championships debut, has a tough draw. He will have to go up against a higher ranked Declan James in the first round.

If he ends up winning, he will run into the reigning and four-time world champion Ali Farag of Egypt in the second round in all likelihood.

Anahat, meanwhile, will start against the 22-year-old Marina Stefanoni of the United States.

Among the other three men’s singles players from India, Abhay and Velavan might set up an all-India clash in just the second round. It seems unlikely though with Velavan having been drawn to play world No 3 Elias Diego of Peru in the opening round.

Abhay, who had recently won the Hyder Trophy, will face Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland to start his campaign.

Ramit, ranked 34th in the world, is the highest ranked Indian in men’s singles. He will be the only one from the country to play the first round match against a lower ranked opponent when he goes up against world No 50 Ryunosuke Tsukue of Japan.

Indians in contention

Men’s Singles: Ramit Tandon, Velavan Senthilkumar, Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani

Women’s Singles: Anahat Singh

Schedule

9 May: Ramit Tandon v/s Ryunosuke Tsukue

9 May: Abhay Singh v/s Nicolas Mueller

9 May: Velavan Senthilkumar v/s Elias Diego

9 May: Anahat Singh v/s Marina Stefanoni

11-12 May: Round 2

13-14 May: Round 3

15-16 May: Quarter-finals

17 May: Semi-finals

18 May: Finals

Where to Watch?

You can catch all the LIVE action from the 2024-25 PSA World Championships on SquashTV.