Challenger Tour Round-Up: Baitha Suffers Indore Exit, Romo Outlasts Marcantonio

HCL Squash Tour – Indore 2024 

Second seed Rahul Baitha suffered a surprise round-two upset at the HCL Squash Tour – Indore, losing 3-1 to Kuwait’s Bader Almaghrebi. 

Baitha and Almaghrebi were bringing play to a close in the day’s final match on court two, with home favourite Baitha hoping for an easy outing against a player ranked almost 400 places below him in the world who is playing his first Challenger Tour event. 

Instead, though, the 21-year-old caused a huge shock to reach the last eight, winning 3-1 in 37 minutes to set up a quarter-final meeting with fifth seed Om Semwal. 

Fourth seed Nevindu Lakman also crashed out on day two, but there were no such issues for top seed and fellow Sri Lankan Ravindu Laksiri, losing only eight points in his win over Vaibhav Chauhan. 

In the women’s draw, 16-year-old Malak Samir showcased her talents with a ruthless display to see off Aradhya Porwal. 

The Egyptian No.2 seed needed only 14 minutes to progress into the quarter-finals, winning 11-2, 11-4, 11-2, and will now play Pooja Arthi Raghu, who record a comfortable 3-0 win of her own. 

Top seed Rathika Suthanthira Seelan also progressed, albeit in more testing circumstances, battling past compatriot Shameena Riaz 3-1 in 39 minutes. 

Clube de Campo Figueiras Porto Ferreira Squash Open 2024 

Second seed Francesco Marcantonio saw his hopes of winning back-to-back titles ended on day two of the Clube de Campo Figueiras Porto Ferreira Squash Open. 

The Paraguayan claimed his maiden PSA Tour title at the ECP Open last week, winning five-game thrillers in both the semi-finals and final to get his hands on the trophy. 

This time, though, he came out on the wrong side of another lengthy duel, losing the deciding fifth game 11-9 after almost an hour and a half of action against Ecuador’s Javier Romo. 

Sixth seed Sayed Fawzy also went out in the quarter-finals, meaning top seed Pedro Mometto and fourth seed Guilherme Melo will be joined by two unseeded players – Romo being one of them – in the last four. 

The women’s draw, in contrast, will see the top four seeds contest the semi-finals, led by teenager Laura Silva. 

The 16-year-old finished as runner-up in last week’s ECP Open but will be hoping to go one better this week as the No.1 seed, and secured her spot in the final four with a 3-0 win over fellow Brazilian Giovanna Ambrosio. 

Her semi-final opponent will be another compatriot in the form of Luiza Carbonieri, while Caridad Buenaño and Fiorella Gatti will compete for the other spot in the final. 

You can stay up to date with all the results on the PSA Challenger Tour here.