HCL SRFI Jodhpur: Orfi and Singh Down Top Seeds For Victory

Egypt’s Amina Orfi and home favourite Abhay Singh took the titles at the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Jodhpur Leg, with both beating the respective top seeds in the finals.

Orfi came into the tournament as the No.8 seed, and the 15-year-old was yet to reach a final on Tour. However, she did claim the World Junior Championship crown earlier this year.

After receiving a bye through the opening day’s action, the young Egyptian started her campaign with a dominant 25-minute performance against Sunita Patel, dropping just eight points in the entire contest.

A come-from behind four-game victory over No.4 seed Tanvi Khanna followed in the quarter finals, as Orfi regrouped after losing the first game 14-12. She then got the better of No.2 seed Cheng Nga Ching in the semis, winning in straight games in just 25 minutes for the second time in three days.

In her first final on Tour, the 15-year-old was pitted against the tournament’s top seed, Aira Azman. However, that did not make a difference to the young Egyptian, as she came through in straight games to claim her first Tour title, and to become one of the youngest ever winners on Tour.

She was joined in the winner’s circle by Indian Abhay Singh, who delighted the home crowd to take his fifth title of the year. He came in as the No.2 seed for the competition, and like Orfi, received a bye on the opening day. 

He then did not drop a game en route to the final. Wins came against Malaysia’s Wee Ming Hock in the second round, compatriot Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu in the quarters and another Malaysian, in No.4 seed Ong Sai Hung.

In the final, Singh came up against former World No.14 Zahed Salem, and he took a tight first game 13-11. However, the Egyptian fought back to win the second, but from there on, the No.2 seed was able to just keep his nose in front in both games. He took them 11-9 and 11-8, respectively, to win in four and to secure his fifth Tiel of 2022.

Results: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Jodhpur Leg
Men’s Final
[2] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [1] Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-1: 13-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 (46m)

Women’s Final
[8] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [1] Aira Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 12-10 (40m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
[1] Zahed Salem (EGY) bt Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-1: 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 (40m)
[2] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [4] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (25m)

Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Aira Azman (MAS) bt [3] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) 3-1: 11-4, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8 (37m)
[8] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [2] Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 (23m)

Men’s Quarter Finals
[1] Zahed Salem (EGY) bt Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-2, 11-2 (25m)
Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt [3] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-0, 12-10 (33m)
[4] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) bt [5] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) 3-1: 11-3, 4-11, 11-5, 11-2 (66m)
[2] Abhay Singh (IND) bt Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 3-0: 15-13, 11-5, 11-6 (37m)

Women’s Quarter Finals
[1] Aira Azman (MAS) bt [5] Ching Hei Fung (HKG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 11-8 (22m)
[3] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) bt Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) 3-2: 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7 (45m)
[8] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [4] Tanvi Khanna (IND) 3-1: 12-14, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7 (40m)
[2] Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) bt Nour Khafagy (EGY) 3-2: 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9 (38m)

Men’s Second Round
[1] Zahed Salem (EGY) bt Andrik Lim (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (30m)
Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (EGY) bt [8] Chung Yat Long (HKG) 3-1: 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10 (60m)
Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt [7] Hafiz Zhafri (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (30m)
[3] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) bt Andes Ling (HKG) 3-1: 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9 (40m)
[4] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) bt Jan Wipperfurth (GER) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (24m)
[5] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) bt Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) 3-2: 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7 (90m)
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt [6] Harley Lam (HKG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-8 (35m)
[2] Abhay Singh (IND) bt Wee Ming Hock (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 (30m)

Women’s Second Round
[1] Aira Azman (MAS) bt Nour Wageeh (EGY) 3-1: 10-12, 11-3, 11-1, 11-7 (25m)
[5] Ching Hei Fung (HKG) bt Urwashi Joshi (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (25m)
Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt [7] Salma El Aify (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 (21m)
[3] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) bt Lam Po Ying (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6 (30m)
[4] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt Wong Po Yui Kirstie (HKG) 3-0; 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (20m)
[8] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Sunita Patel (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-1 (25m)
Nour Khafagy (EGY) bt [6] Toby Tse (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (25m)
[2] Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) bt Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (25m)

Men’s First Round
Andrik Lim (MAS) bt Wailok To (HKG) 3-1: 11-3, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6 (35m)
Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (EGY) bt Rahul Baitha (IND) 3-2: 11-8, 6-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-1 (74m)
Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt Pradeep Malik (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-1 (15m)
Andes Ling (HKG) bt Ravi Dixit (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-1 (22m)
Jan Wipperfurth (GER) bt Abdullah Hashim (IRQ): Walkover
Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt Jaideep Singh Sethi (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-4 (28m)
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt Lam Shing Fung (HKG) 3-1: 4-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-6 (45m)
Wee Ming Hock (MAS) bt [WC] Krishna Mishra (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 (33m)

Women’s First Round
Nour Wageeh (EGY) bt Yashi Jain (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7, 11-8 (23m)
Urwashi Joshi (IND) bt Bijali Darvada (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-1, 11-1 (16m)
Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt Navya Sundararajan (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-8, 11-3 (17m)
Lam Po Ying (HKG) bt Janet Vidhi (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 12-10 (39m)
Wong Po Yui Kirstie (HKG) bt Mahak Talati (IND) 3-0: 11-0, 11-2, 11-0 (12m)
Sunita Patel (IND) bt Pooja Arthi R (IND) 3-1: 11-6, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9 (29m)
Nour Khafagy (EGY) bt Wai Sze Wing (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (20m)
Rathikaa Suthanthira Seelan (IND) bt Anjali Semwal (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-0, 11-8 (25m)