HCL SRFI Tour – Delhi RD2: Top Seeds Make Quarter Finals

The second round of the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Delhi took place on Sunday afternoon, with the top four seeds in both draws safely making it into the quarter finals.

Top seed Abhay Singh ensured India representation at the top end of the men’s draw, as he defeated compatriot and No.9 seed Rahul Baitha in straight games. No.3 seed Sandeep Ramachandran needed a trio of tie-breaks to down Yusuf Elsherif, while No.12 seed Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu caused one of a pair of upsets on the second day, beating Sri Lankan No.1 Ravindu Laksiri in straight games to advance.

No.13 seed Hoony Lee caused the other surprise result, as he got the better of Brunei No.1 Yousif Thani in a four-game contest. He will now take no top seed Singh in the quarters. Elsewhere, Hong Kong Matthew Lai, Frenchman Toufik Mekhalfi, Japan’s Tomotaka Endo and Egypt’s Yassin Elshafei booked their quarter final spots.

The women’s draw saw all of the top eight seeds make it into the quarter finals of the Challenger 5 level event, with just a pair of Egyptians having to go all the way to a fifth game to ensure their last eight spots in Delhi.

No.3 seed Nour Ramy had to go the distance against wildcard Yuvna Gupta, and did not lead the match until the decider. She fell behind to the Indian after both the first and third games of their contest, but eventually pulled through to win the fifth 11-4 to advance.

No.8 seed Malak Fathy was the other woman to almost become a cropper to an unseeded player. She took on South Korean Dong ju Song for a place in the last eight, and it was the Korean that took the lead, winning both of the opening two games. From there, though, Fathy fought back, and dropped just 13 points over the next three games to take a 3-2 win.

She will now take on top seed Amina Orfi in the quarters, who came through her last 16 battle easily, dropping just four points. Menna Walid, Salma El Aify and Nadeen Kotb make up the six Egyptians who are through, and will be joined by Serbian No.1 Jelena Dutina and Indian Tanvi Khanna, the only home hope left in the women’s draw.

You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook.  Action from Delhi is being streamed throughout the week on the IndiaSquash YouTube Channel.

Men’s Second Round Results: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Delhi
[1] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [9] Rahul Baitha (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (32m)
[13] Hoony Lee (KOR) bt [8] Yousif Thani (BRN) 3-1: 11-5, 11-7, 4-11, 11-4 (33m)
[7] Matthew Lai (HKG) bt [15] Seif Ashraf (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7, 11-4 (20m)
[4] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) bt [16] Ravi Dixit (IND) 3-1: 11-9, 11-3, 8-11, 11-3 (38m)
[3] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) bt [10] Yusuf Elsherif (EGY) 3-0: 13-11, 12-10, 13-11 (50m)
[6] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt [WC] Tavneet Singh Mundra (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 (21m)
[12] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt [5] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 13-11 (42m)
[2] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt [12] Mohamed Gohar (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 10-12, 11-3, 11-3 (33m)

Men’s Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Monday, January 30
[1] Abhay Singh (IND) v [13] Hoony Lee (KOR)
[7] Matthew Lai (HKG) v [4] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA)
[3] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) v [6] Tomotaka Endo (JPN)
[12] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) v [2] Yassin Elshafei (EGY)

Women’s Second Round Results: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Delhi
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Sanika Choudhari (IND) 3-0: 11-0, 11-1, 11-3 (21m)
[8] Malak Fathy (EGY) bt Dong Ju Song (KOR) 3-2: 4-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 (55m)
[6] Menna Walid (EGY) bt Janet Vidhi (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-9 (22m)
[4] Jelena Dutina (SRB) bt Khushi Puranik (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (20m)
[3] Nour Ramy (EGY) bt [WC] Yuvna Gupta (IND) 3-2: 5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4 (36m)
[5] Salma El Aify (EGY) bt Mingyeong Heo (KOR) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (23m)
[7] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt Amira Elrefaey (EGY) 3-0 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 (27m)
[2] Nadeen Kotb (EGY) bt Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND) 3-1: 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4 (28m)

Women’s Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Monday, January 30
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) v [8] Malak Fathy (EGY)
[6] Menna Walid (EGY) v [4] Jelena Dutina (SRB)
[3] Nour Ramy (EGY) v [5] Salma El Aify (EGY)
[7] Tanvi Khanna (IND) v [2] Nadeen Kotb (EGY)