2nd HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg: Tournament Preview

The first international tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour to take place in 12 months will be played this week in India, as the 2nd HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg 1 is held at the Indian Squash Academy.

This will be the first fully international event on the Challenger Tour since the Queen City Open was held in Regina, Canada in March 2020, with no limitations on which nationalities can enter.

It will be a Challenger 20 level event for the men, and a Challenger 10 level tournament for the women, and there will be six nationalities represented across the 48-strong field.

Canada, Egypt, France, Russia and the United States will be represented, along with home nation India, with the top seeds in both draws hailing from the host country.

World No.69 Sunayna Kuruvilla will be the top seed for the women’s event, with Egypt’s World No.75 Hana Moataz the nearest challenger. The likes of Tanvi Khanna, Sachika Balvani, Urwashi Joshi and Aparajitha Balamurukan will also be aiming to cause an upset.

There is a more international feel to the men’s draw, with the top four seeds all hailing from different nationalities. India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar is the top seed, with US No.2 Todd Harrity, Egypt’s Karim El Hammamy and France’s Sebastian Bonmalais in the top four.

The top nine seeds in the men’s draw are all inside the top 100 in the World Rankings, with Canadian David Baillargeon, the World No.95, the highest of those in the [9/16] bracket in the draw.

The event takes place from Saturday 27 to Wednesday 31 at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, where Mahesh Mangaonkar and Sunayna Kuruvilla are the top seeds for the tournament. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Action from Chennai will be streamed throughout the week on the PSA Challenger Tour Facebook page.

Men’s Draw: 2nd HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg 1
[1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) – [Bye]
[WC] Veer Chotrani (IND) v [9/16] Omar ElKattan (EGY)
[9/16] Abhishek Pradhan (IND) v Vladislav Titov (RUS)
[5] Mazen Gamal (EGY) – [Bye]
[8] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) – [Bye]
Seif Shenawy (EGY) v [9/16] David Baillargeon (CAN)
[9/16] Abhay Singh (IND) v [WC] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND)
[4] Sebastian Bonmalais (FRA) – [Bye]
[3] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) – [Bye]
Yash Fadte (IND) v [9/16] Aadit Zaveri (IND)
[9/16] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) v [WC] Navaneeth Prabhu (IND)
[7] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) – [Bye]
[6] Aditya Jagtap (IND) – [Bye]
Ravi Dixit (IND) v [9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY)
[9/16] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) v Rounak Yadav (IND)
[2] Todd Harrity (USA) – [Bye]

Women’s Draw: 2nd HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg 1
[1] Sunana Kuruvilla (IND) – [Bye]
Vasudha Surange (IND) v [9/16] Bijli Darvada (IND)
[9/16] Malak Kamal (EGY) – [Bye]
[5] Urwashi Joshi (IND) – [Bye]
[7] Rana Ismail (EGY) – [Bye]
Varvara Esina (RUS) v [9/16] Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND)
[9/16] Janet Vidhi (IND) – [Bye]
[4] Sachika Balvani (IND) – [Bye]
[3] Tanvi Khanna (IND) – [Bye]
Pooja Arthi R (IND) v [9/16] Radhika Rathore (IND)
[9/16] Aaradhana Kasturiraj (IND) v Yoshna Singh (IND)
[6] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND) – [Bye]
[8] Sanika Choudhari (IND) – [Bye]
Shameena Riaz (IND) v [9/16] Tiana Parasrampuria (IND)
[9/16] Abhisheka Shannon (IND) v Ahskaya Sri (IND)
[2] Hana Moataz (EGY) – [Bye]