Bangabandhu: Laksiri Claims Maiden Tour Title

Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri took the title at the 2nd Bangabandhu Squash Tournament Presented by Ishaphani Ltd on Sunday, to claim his maiden Tour victory.

The Sri Lankan had never even made a final during his fledgling Tour career prior to his trip to Dhaka, and the World No.281 came into the Challenger 5 level competition as the No.8 seed.

He started his week with a comfortable 14-minute victory over Bangladeshi Abid Mansur, before then getting the better of Iranian’s Sepehr Etemdapoor as his giant-killing run got underway.

The Sri Lankan defeated the tournament’s No.5 seed in four games, recovering from dropping the third to the Iranian. He fought back to win the fourth and secure his quarter final spot, where he then took on No.2 seed Duncan Lee. Laksiri led twice in the contest, only to see the Malaysian fight back on both occasions. However, the Sri Lankan was able to take the fifth to keep his run going.

In the semis, the World No.281 came up against No.4 seed Amir Amirul, and won in straight games. The first two games of their last four contest were tight, but Laksiri came through to win in half an hour to book his spot in the final.

He took on Egypt’s Ziad Ibrahim in the final on Sunday in Dhaka, and started strongly. The Sri Lankan won the first two games, but saw Ibrahim fight back to win the third. However, Laksiri regrouped, and took a tight fourth game 11-9 to get over the line and clinch his first Tour title.

Results: 2nd Bangabandhu Squash Tournament Presented by Ishaphani Ltd
Final
[8] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt [3] Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9 (48m)

Semi-Finals
[3] Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) bt [1] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) 3-1: 2-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 (29m)
[8] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt [4] Amir Amirul (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (29m)

Quarter Finals
[1] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) bt [11] Sami Ghasedabadi (IRI) 3-2: 13-11, 11-5, 1-11, 5-11, 11-6 (46m)
[3] Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) bt [10] Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 (34m)
[4] Amir Amirul (MAS) bt [6] Abdelaziz Hegazy (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 12-10 (36m)
[8] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt [2] Duncan Lee (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8 (60m)

Second Round
[1] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) bt [9] Athbi Hamad (KUW) 3-1: 11-4, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4 (31m)
[11] Sami Ghasedabadi (IRI) bt [WC] Md Shahadat Hossain (BAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 (15m)
[10] Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (EGY) bt [16] MD Shumon (BAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (18m)
[3] Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) bt [14] Yusuf Elsherif (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (34m)
[4] Amir Amirul (MAS) bt [12] Mohamed Gohar (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3, 11-7 (36m)
[6] Abdelaziz Hegazy (EGY) bt Md. Shahidul Islam (BAN) 3-1: 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4 (25m)
[8] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt [5] Sepehr Etemadpoor (IRI) 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7 (41m)
[2] Duncan Lee (MAS) bt [13] Mohammad Kashani (IRI) 3-2: 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-5 (53m)

First Round
[9] Athbi Hamad (KUW) bt [WC] MD Shorif (BAN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-8 (20m)
[11] Sami Ghasedabadi (IRI) bt Kawsar Ahmed (BAN) 3-0: 11-1, 11-2, 11-4 (19m)
[WC] Md Shahadat Hossain (BAN) bt [7] Navaneeth Prabhu (IND): Walkover
[16] Md Shumon (BAN) bt Khan Mohd Ershad (BAN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-0, 11-1 (17m)
[10] Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (EGY) bt Md Masum Ahmed (BAN) 3-0: 11-0, 11-4, 11-5 (17m)
[14] Yusuf Elsherif (EGY) bt Faiaz Rahman (BAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-2 (18m)
[3] Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) bt [WC] Sazzad Arefin Alam (BAN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-2 (16m)
[4] Amir Amirul (MAS) bt Faraaz A. Rahim (BAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 (14m)
[12] Mohamed Gohar (EGY) bt Md Noor Mohammad (BAN) 3-0: 11-1, 11-3, 11-4 (12m)
Md Shahidul Islam (BAN) bt [15] Hamza Ibn Saleheen (BAN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 11-3 (14m)
[6] Abdelaziz Hegazy (EGY) bt [WC] Runny Debnath (BAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 (15m)
[5] Sepehr Etemadpoor (IRI) bt Fazley Wali Ahmed (BAN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 11-7 (19m)
[8] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt Abid Mansur (BAN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-1 (14m)
[13] Mohammad Kashani (IRI) bt Tarique Khan (BAN): Walkover