HCL SRFI Chennai: Ayman and Singh Victorious

The 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg came to a conclusion on Friday afternoon at the Indian Squash Academy, with home favourite Abhay Singh and Egypt’s Kenzy Ayman taking home the Challenger 10 level titles.

Singh, the leading Indian in the men’s draw, came into the competition as the No.4 seed, and started off his week with a bye through to the second round in Chennai. He then got the better of England’s Lewis Doughty, before overcoming the challenge of compatriot and No.6 seed Velavan Senthilkumar to make it through to the semi-finals.

In the last four, the Indian came up against top seed, Egypt’s Yassin Elshafei, for a place in the final. He held a 2-1 lead following the third game, but saw the Egyptian show his class in the third to level the contest. The deciding game went to a tie-break, but it was Singh that won it 12-10 to advance through to the final on home soil.

The final saw Singh take on Egypt’s Khaled Labib, the tournament’s No.3 seed, for the title, and the Indian was in top form, dropping just 11 points across the three games, to win 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 in just 22 minutes. With that win, he claims his second title of the season, becoming only the third multiple-victor of the 2022-2023 campaign to date, joining Hong Kong’s Tsz Kwan Lau and Chan Sin Yuk.

In the women’s event, top seed Kenzy Ayman showed her class to come through a difficult field to claim her second victory of the year. Like Singh, she also received a bye through the opening day’s action in Chennai, before starting her campaign in the last 16 with a comfortable win against Rathika Suthanthira Seelan of India.

Ayman then overcame the challenge of No.7 seed Urwashi Joshi in four games, recovering after dropping the third to win the fourth on a tie-break 12-10. She followed that with a come-from-behind win against No.3 seed Tanvi Khanna, who had led 2-0 in the match. However, the turning point was the third game, one which Ayman won 11-6, before going on to win both the fourth and fifth games by an 11-5 scoreline.

She moved through to the final thanks to that win, and she came against another Indian, her fourth of the week, in Sunayna Kuruvilla. The No.5 seed had defeated Ayman’s compatriot, No.2 seed Salma Eltayeb in straight games in the semi-finals, but Ayman made sure there would be no repeat of that in the final, as she took victory in 23 minutes, winning 11-7, 11-2, 11-6 to secure her first win of the season, and second of the year following her victory in Bermuda in May.

Results: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg
Men’s Final
[4] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [3] Khaled Labib (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (22m)

Women’s Final
[1] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt [5] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-6 (23m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
[3] Khaled Labib (EGY) bt [2] Martin Svec (CZE) 3-0: 14-12, 15-13, 11-9 (39m)
[4] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 4-11, 12-10 (51m)

Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt [3] Tanvi Khanna (IND) 3-2: 11-13, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (46m)
[5] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt [2] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 13-11 (26m)

Men’s Quarter Finals
[2] Martin Svec (CZE) bt Tomotaka Endo (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 (27m)
[3] Khaled Labib (EGY) bt [7] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) 3-2: 6-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 (59m)
[4] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [6] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-1: 11-7, 3-11, 11-6, 11-9 (47m)
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt [8] Rahul Baitha (IND) 3-1: 11-6, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4 (34m)

Women’s Quarter Finals
[1] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt [7] Urwashi Joshi (IND) 3-1: 11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 12-10 (30m)
[3] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt [6] Menna Walid (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5 (36m)
[5] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt [4] Haya Ali (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (33m)
[2] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt Amina El Rihany (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-1, 11-4 (17m)

Men’s Second Round
[2] Martin Svec (CZE) bt Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) 3-0: 14-12, 11-4, 11-9 (29m)
Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt [5] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) 3-2: 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9 (58m)
[7] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) bt Lam Shing Fung (HKG) 3-2: 13-11, 9-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8 (62m)
[3] Khaled Labib (EGY) bt [WC] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 (29m)
[4] Abhay Singh (IND) bt Lewis Doughty (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-1 (29m)
[6] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt Naoki Hayashi (JPN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 (24m)
[8] Rahul Baitha (IND) bt Abdelaziz Hegazy (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5 (43m)
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt Adegoke Onaopemipo (NGR) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-9 (30m)

Women’s Second Round
[1] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-8 (16m)
[7] Urwashi Joshi (IND) bt Tiana Parasrampuria (IND) 3-1: 11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10 (29m)
[6] Menna Walid (EGY) bt Pooja Arthi R (IND) 3-1: 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 (32m)
[3] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt Nour Ramy (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 12-10 (31m)
[4] Haya Ali (EGY) bt [WC] Anahat Singh (IND) 3-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9 (39m)
[5] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt [WC] Shameena Riaz (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 (16m)
Amina El Rihany (EGY) bt [8] Anjali Semwal (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 (15m)
[2] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt Salma El Aify (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-1 (23m)

Men’s First Round
Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) bt Ho Ka Hei (HKG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-1 (35m)
Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt Rounak Yadav (IND) 3-1: 14-16, 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (31m)
Lam Shing Fung (HKG) bt Seif Nasser (EGY) 3-0: 16-14, 11-6, 11-4 (26m)
[WC] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt Navaneeth Prabhu (IND) 3-1: 11-2, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8 (43m)
Lewis Doughty (ENG) bt Mahmoud Abouelleil (EGY) 3-0: 11-1, 11-3, 11-0 (21m)
Naoki Hayashi (JPN) bt [WC] Arihant K S (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (22m)
Abdelaziz Hegazy (EGY) bt [WC] Yuvral Wadhwani (IND) 3-1: 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3 (34m)
Adegoke Onaopemipo (NGR) bt Ravi Dixit (IND) 3-1: 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4 (29m)

Women’s First Round
Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND) bt [WC] Vasudha Surange (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 12-10, 11-7 (24m)
Tiana Parasrampuria (IND) bt Radhika Rathore (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 (15m)
Pooja Arthi R (IND) bt Lim Jee Nee (SGP) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (15m)
Nour Ramy (EGY) bt Sanika Choudhari (IND) 3-0; 11-9, 11-3, 12-10 (30m)
[WC] Anahat Singh (IND) bt Janet Vidhi (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (24m)
[WC] Shameena Riaz (IND) bt Shahd Elrefaey (EGY) 3-1: 12-10, 11-9, 6-11, 11-3 (28m)
Amina El Rihany (EGY) bt Ona Blasco (ESP) 3-0: 11-0, 11-4, 11-4 (15m)
Salma El Aify (EGY) bt Sunita Patel (IND) 3-1: 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6 (33m)