Ritwik upsets top seed in Atlanta

India's Ritwik Bhattacharya created a flutter when he upset top seed Mohd. Essam Hafiz of Egypt in straight games to reach the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Open Squash championship.

The former National champion, who also has four PSA tour titles to his credit, thrashed his higher-ranked opponent 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 in just 25 minutes, according a statement from his sponsors, JCT Limited and Asahi Glass, in Delhi on Friday.

This is the first time the Indian defeated a player ranked as high as 35 in the world.

He will now meet Matt Guiffree of Canada, who had beaten Ritwik in the Quebec Open in Montreal earlier this year.

The first game was a close affair with Ritwik matching his opponent shot for shot to reach 9-9 and then hitting two fine winners to take the lead.

Thereafter, there was no stopping for the Indian, who is looking to break into the top 50, as he controlled the match and took the next two games easily.