Ravi Dixit advanced to his second successive men’s semifinal at the HCL National doubles squash championships, combining with Vikas Mehra to battle past Mathew Godwin and Navaneeth Prabhu 11-7, 10-12, 11-7 in a gripping clash at the Indian Squash & Triathlon Academy here on Thursday.

Ravi, in the company of Guhan Senthilkumar, had finished runner-up in the previous edition. On Thursday, the higher-ranked duo of Ravi and Vikas was on the cusp of victory when it earned a match point at 10-9 in the second game. However, two backhand errors from Ravi allowed Mathew and Navaneeth to push the contest into the decider.

Ravi and Vikas raced to a 5-1 lead before their opponents fought back to draw level at 5-all. The match was marked by long rallies, and heated exchanges with the referee added to the intensity of the encounter.

From 8-6 onwards, the higher-ranked combination raised its game. Fittingly, it was Ravi who delivered the finishing touch, producing a delightful backhand cross-court winner to seal the deal.

Meanwhile, top seeds Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar began their title defence in emphatic fashion, cruising to a 11-4, 11-2 win over Shubham and Vedant Patel to seal a last-four berth.

In mixed doubles, Abhay, who had won the crown alongside Anahat Singh last year, has teamed up with Rathika Seelan this time and overcame Ravi and Janet Vidhi 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 to book a place in the semifinals.

The results: Men: Quarterfinals: Abhay Singh & Velavan Senthilkumar bt Shubham & Vedant Patel 11-4, 11-2; Ravi Dixit & Vikas Mehra bt Mathew Godwin & Navaneeth Prabhu 11-7, 10-12, 11-7; Guhan Senthilkumar & Pr Sandhesh bt Harinderpal Singh Sandhu & Om Semwal 11-7, 2-11, 11-8; Rahul Baitha & Suraj Chand bt R. Dinesh & L. Meyappan 11-6, 11-6.

Women: Group A: Joshna Chinappa & Rathika Seelan bt Sahana Kalaivanan & Sangamitra Shanmugham 11-2, 11-7; Ananya Narayan & Anika Dubey bt Sahana & Sangamitra 11-2, 11-1.

Mixed: Quarterfinals: Velavan & Joshna bt Roshan Rajkumar & Sahana 11-4, 11-5; Suraj & Nirupama Dubey bt Navaneeth & Pooja Arthi 11-9, 12-10; Abhay & Rathika bt Ravi & Janet Vidhi 10-12, 11-8, 11-9; Rahul & Anika bt Sandhesh & Shameena Riaz 10-12, 11-6, 11-8.