Daly College Open RD2: Quartet Down Seeds

The surprise results kept on coming at the Daly College & SquashXtreme SRFI Open, with four upsets in the second round on Monday.

The Challenger 10 level tournament, which is being held at the Daly College in Indore, India, is the last event on Tour in 2022, and the seeds came into the draw in the second round of play.

However, four of those seeds fell to unseeded players on Monday afternoon, with India’s Sanika Choudhari delighting the home crowd as she came back from two games down to secure a five-game win.

The Indian took on No.8 seed Habiba Hossam in the second round, and could only score seven points across the opening two games of their match. However, she fought back strongly, and sent the match into a deciding game where both women and their chances to take the victory. In the end, it was Choudhari that won it 13-11 to cause the only upset in the women’s draw in Indore. She will now take on top seed Akanksha Salunkhe in the last eight on Tuesday afternoon.

In the men’s draw, Egypt’s Mohamed Gohar did the exacts ame as Choudhari, as he fought back from the brink to secure a five-game win over compatriot Khaled Labib. It was the No.4 seed led by two games, but Gohar won the third 11-8 to bring himself back into the contest. Both the fourth and fifth games went to tie-breaks, and although Labib had his opportunities, Gohar won both by 12-10 scorelines to advance.

Elsewhere, India’s Velavan Senthilkumar and Egypt’s Seif Ashraf secured straight games wins over seeded players. The Indian got the better of Sri Lankan No.1, and the tournament’s No.5 seed, Ravindu Laksiri, while Ashraf defeated fellow Egyptian Abdelaziz Hegazy, the No.6 seed.

The quarter finals of the Daly College & SquashXtreme SRFI Open will take place on Tuesday, December 20, with the last eight in both draws aiming to reach the semi-finals of the last tournament of the year.

Men’s Second Round Results: Daly College & SquashXtreme SRFI Open
[1] Zahed Salem (EGY) bt Baptiste Bouin (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 (35m)
Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt [5] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (30m)
[8] Veer Chotrani (IND) bt Rahul Baitha (IND) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, 10-6 rtd (26m)
[3] Aly Hussein (EGY) bt [WC] Krishna Mishra (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (36m)
Mohamed Gohar (EGY) bt [4] Khaled Labib (EGY) 3-2: 5-11, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 (60m)
[7] Maceo Levy (FRA) bt Kanhav Nanavati (IND) 3-1: 8-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-9 (62m)
Seif Ashraf (EGY) bt [6] Abdelaziz Hegazy (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (35m)
[2] Abhay Singh (IND) bt Brice Nicolas (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (23m)

Men’s Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Tuesday, December 20
[1] Zahed Salem (EGY) v Velavan Senthilkumar (IND)
[8] Veer Chotrani (IND) v [3] Aly Hussein (EGY)
Mohamed Gohar (EGY) v [7] Maceo Levy (FRA)
Seif Ashraf (EGY) v [2] Abhay Singh (IND)

Women’s Second Round Results: Daly College & SquashXtreme SRFI Open
[1] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) bt Khushi Puranik (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-1, 11-0 (12m)
Sanika Choudhari (IND) bt [8] Habiba Hossam (EGY) 3-2: 3-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 13-11 (38m)
[5] Urwashi Joshi (IND) bt Anjali Semwal (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-3 (16m)
[3] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt Mahak Talati (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-1, 11-0 (12m)
[4] Lojayn Gohary (EGY) bt Janet Vidhi (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 12-10 (23m)
[6] Ingy Hammouda (EGY) bt Karma Allam (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 12-10 (31m)
[7] Amina El Rihany (EGY) bt Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-1, 11-5 (20m)
[2] Menna Hamed (EGY) bt Nirupama Dubey (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 (19m)

Women’s Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Tuesday, December 20
[1] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) v Sanika Choudhari (IND)
[5] Urwashi Joshi (IND) v [3] Tanvi Khanna (IND)
[4] Lojayn Gohary (EGY) v [6] Ingy Hammouda (EGY)
[7] Amina El Rihany (EGY) v [2] Menna Hamed (EGY)