HCL SRFI Chennai SF: India’s Kuruvilla and Singh Into Finals

There will be home hopes in both finals at the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg, as India’s Abhay Singh and Sunayna Kuruvilla both took surprise wins in the last four of the Challenger 10 level competition.

Singh came into the event as the No.4 seed, and after beating England’s Lewis Doughty and India’s Velavan Senthilkumar. In the last four, the Indian came up against top seed Yassin Elshafei, and the pair did battle for more than 50 minutes across a five-game contest.

The Indian lost the first game of their clash, but then won the second 11-5 and the third 11-4 to turn the match around and lead, with a chance of winning in four. Elshafei showed why he was the top seed, though, to return the favour and level the match once again. The fifth and final game went all the way to a tie-break, with Singh eventually coming out on top 12-10, to book his spot in the finals.

He will now face Egypt’s Khaled Labib in the last match of the week on Friday afternoon, after the No.3 seed got the better of the Czech Republic’s Martin Svec. Two tie-breaks were crucial for the Egyptian, as he won the first game 14-12, and the second game 15-13, before then going on to seal the victory in straight games.

In the women’s event, less than 24 hours after causing an upset to down the tournament’s No.4 seed, Indian Sunayna Kuruvilla was at it again, this time getting the better of No.2 seed Salma Eltayeb to reach the final. She needed just 26 minutes to take victory, winning in straight games over the Egyptian, to advance to the final in Chennai.

The Indian will now take on top seed Kenzy Ayman after the Egyptian junior had to fight back from two games down to overcome another Indian, in Tanvi Khanna. The home favourite had won the first tow games by scorelines of 13-11 and 11-9, but Ayman showed her abilities throughout the rest of the contest, winning the third 11-6 to turn the momentum in her favour, before then going on to take the fourth and fifth games, both by 11-5 scorelines, to send herself through to the final.

The finals of the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg will take place on Friday, September 23 at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai. All the action will be streamed live and free on the PSA Challenger Tour YouTube channel. You can also keep up to date with live scores from the tournament here.

Men’s Semi-Final Results: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg
[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)

Men’s Final Draw: To Be Played Friday, September 23
[3] Khaled Labib (EGY) v [4] Abhay Singh (IND)

Women’s Semi-Final Results: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg
[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)

Women’s Final Draw: To Be Played Friday, September 23
[1] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) v [5] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND)