Chinappa, Reddy record easy wins

India's national champion Joshna Chinappa and Vaidehi Reddy recorded easy victories on the opening day of the ninth World junior women's squash championships in Penang, Malaysia, on Sunday.

The Madras-based players beat Catherine McLeod of Australia and Delia Arnold of Malaysia respectively to move into the second round.

Fourteen-year-old Joshna crushed McLeod, who is two years older to her, 9-0, 9-4, 9-5 in just 23 minutes while Vaidehi pipped another 16-year-old in Arnold, 9-0, 9-5, 7-9, 9-3 in 27 minutes.

Bombay-based Supriya Balsekar got a walkover in the first round as her opponent, Tan Pei Qi of China, pulled out of the championship following an injury. She will now play Frances Ho of Hong Kong in the second round.

Two other Indians who were in action on the first day were, however, unimpressive. Madras-based Divya Rajan lost in the first round, to Teng Ooi Ean of Malaysia 0-9, 1-9, 1-9, while Bombay-based Rachita Vora went down to second seed Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand 5-9, 2-9, 5-9 in 23 minutes.