HCL SRFI Tour – Delhi Preview: Singh Aiming To Continue Form Into 2023

The final event of the week, the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Delhi, will take place this week, with both a men’s and women’s draw at the Challenger 5 level tournament.

Egypt’s Amina Orfi will be the top seed for the women’s draw, and will be aiming to win a third successive title on the Challenger Tour after ending 2022 in great form.

She will be joined by five other Egyptians among the top eight seeds who will receive a bye for the opening round in Delhi. Nadeen Kotb, Nour Ramy, Salma El Aify, Menna Walid and Malak Fathy will also be seeded for the Challenger 5 level competition.

Serbia’s Jelena Dutina and Tanvi Khanna, the leading Indian woman on home soil, will make up the rest of the top seeds. Khanna will be one of 13 Indians in action playing in their home nation this week in the women’s event in Delhi.

It will be an Indian who leads the way in the men’s draw, with World No.70 Abhay Singh being the tournament’s top seed. We spoke to man who won six times on Tour last year, and he is aiming to continue that form into 2023.

“I feel I got better as each event went by last year, having played so many tournaments after so long, it really helped me learn from all my matches and get things right as the year went on. I certainly feel the best I ever have,” Singh said.

“I never thought I’d end the year with six titles, especially as I’d lost my first four finals. So to then win my next six is surely something I’m very happy about. Apart from that, becoming Indian National Champion for the first time ever was unbelievable.”

Having moved up to a career-high of World No.70 to start off the New Year, Singh is now looking forward, and he is aiming to be a part of the major tournaments in the near future.

“I just need to get out there and play the bigger events now, and get some more good wins. I’m working on a few things with my team and hopefully that all shows in my squash soon,” the Indian said.

“I don’t want to put too much thought to that [towards the rankings] as thinking that way hasn’t worked for me before. The goal is to win every match I play as I’ve always said and a nice one would be qualifying for the World Championships.”

Singh will be joined in the top eight seeds by compatriot Sandeep Ramachandran, along with six other men from six different nations. Egypt’s Yassin ElShafei, Frenchman Toufik Mekhalfi, Sri Lankan No.1 Ravindu Laksiri, Japan’s Tomotaka Endo, Hong Kong’s Matthew Lai and Brunei’s Yousif Thani will all be in action.

The event takes place from Saturday, January 28 to Wednesday, February 1 at the Major Dhyan Chand National in Delhi, India. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Men’s First Round Draw: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Delhi
[1] Abhay Singh (IND) v [WC] Guhan Senthilkumar (IND)
[WC] Shaurya Bawa (IND) v [9] Rahul Baitha (IND)
[13] Hoony Lee (KOR) v Rounak Yadav (IND)
Stephen Hearst (NIR) v [8] Yousif Thani (BRN)
[7] Matthew Lai (HKG) v [WC] Paarth Ambani (IND)
Kalash Talati (IND) v [15] Seif Ashraf (EGY)
[16] Ravi Dixit (IND) v Ranvijay Sigh Sidhu (IND)
[WC] Om Semwal (IND) v [4] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA)
[3] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) v [WC] Arihant K S (IND)
Aarav Gill (IND) v [10] Yusuf Elsherif (EGY)
[11] Jaideep Singh Sethi (IND) v [WC] Tavneet Singh Mundra (IND)
Pardeep Malik (IND) v [6] Tomotaka Endo (JPN)
[5] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) v [WC] Adarsh Banodha (IND)
[WC] Suraj Kumar Chand (IND) v [12] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND)
[14] Mohamed Gohar (EGY) v Jaejin Yoo (KOR)
Aryan Pratap Singh (IND) v [2] Yassin Elshafei (EGY)

Women’s First Round Draw: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Delhi
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) – [Bye]
Kaashvi Mangal (IND) v [9/16] Sanika Choudhari (IND)
[9/16] Bijali Darvada (IND) v Dong Ju Song (KOR)
[8] Malak Fathy (EGY) – [Bye]
[6] Menna Walid (EGY) – [Bye]
Nirupama Dubey (IND) v [9/16] Janet Vidhi (IND)
[9/16] Mahak Talati (IND) v Khushi Puranik (IND)
[4] Jelena Dutina (SRB) – [Bye]
[3] Nour Ramy (EGY) – [Bye]
[WC] Yuvna Gupta (IND) v [9/16] Tharushi Kavindya (SRI)
[9/16] Mingyeong Heo (KOR) v Sanvi Battar (IND)
[5] Salma El Aify (EGY) – [Bye]
[7] Tanvi Khanna (IND) – [Bye]
Navya Sundararajan (IND) v [9/16] Amira Elrefaey (EGY)
[9/16] Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND) v Aradhya Porwal (IND)
[2] Nadeen Kotb (EGY) – [Bye]