HCL SRFI Tour – Delhi: Singh and Orfi Victorious Again

India’s Abhay Singh and Egypt’s Amina Orfi both continued their amazing form to win on Tour again, claiming the prizes at the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Delhi.

Singh came into the men’s competition as the top seed, and on home soil, he was the favourite to take home yet another title in what has been an impressive 2022-2023 campaign.

He started off the week with straight games victory against compatriots Guhan Senthilkumar and Rahul Baitha, before then getting the better of South Korea’s Hoony Lee, the No.13 seed, in three games to make it through to the semi-finals in Delhi.

The tournament’s top seed then overcame Hong Kong’s Matthew Lai, the No.7 seed for the competition, to move into the final. He came up against No.2 seed Yassin Elshafei in the final on Wednesday evening, and after losing the first game on a tie-break, Singh fought back to win in four, taking his fifth win of the season.

Those five wins put him clear at the top in terms of wins on Tour in the 2022-2023 campaign, and he now has seven Tour titles in the last nine months.

In the women’s draw, Amina Orfi continued her impressive unbeaten run on the Challenger Tour, and she now has won her first three events, following victories in Jodhpur and Sutton Coldfield.

After receiving a bye through the opening day’s action in Delhi this week, the reigning World Junior Champion then defeated India’s Sanika Choudhari in the second round, dropping just four points in a commanding performance. Wins against compatriots Malak Fathy and Menna Walid, both seeded opposition, came easily as well, to move Orfi into the final.

India’s Tanvi Khanna, the tournament’s No.7 seed, was Orfi’s opponent in the final, but it was the Egyptian who came through once again. She only dropped five points across the opening two games, but saw the Indian fight back to win the third. Orfi, who will only turn 16 this summer, won the fourth to secure victory, to keep her 100% record on the Challenger Tour intact.

Results: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Delhi
Men’s Final
[1] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [2] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) 3-1: 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 (49m)

Women’s Final
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [7] Tanvi Khanna (IND) 3-1: 11-4, 11-1, 8-11, 11-7 (47m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
[1] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [7] Matthew Lai (HKG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (27m)
[2] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt [6] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) 3-1: 11-5, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7 (37m)

Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [6] Menna Walid (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-7 (33m)
[7] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt [3] Nour Ramy (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (28m)

Men’s Quarter Finals
[1] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [13] Hoony Lee (KOR) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (26m)
[7] Matthew Lai (HKG) bt [4] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 (27m)
[6] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt [3] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 (25m)
[2] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt [12] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 3-1: 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10 (46m)

Women’s Quarter Finals
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [8] Malak Fathy (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 (34m)
[6] Menna Walid (EGY) bt [4] Jelena Dutina (SRB) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (16m)
[3] Nour Ramy (EGY) bt [5] Salma El Aify (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 3-11, 11-2, 11-7 (36m)
[7] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt [2] Nadeen Kotb (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (28m)

Men’s Second Round
[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)

Women’s Second Round
[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)

Men’s First Round
[1] Abhay Singh (IND) bt Guhan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-9 (27m)
[9] Rahul Baitha (IND) bt [WC] Shaurya Bawa (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-7 (27m)
[13] Hoony Lee (KOR) bt Rounak Yadav (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (24m)
[8] Yousif Thani (BRN) bt Stephen Hearst (NIR) 3-1: 12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 (33m)
[7] Matthew Lai (HKG) bt [WC] Paarth Ambani (IND) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 (39m)
[15] Seif Ashraf (EGY) bt Kalash Talati (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-1, 11-4 (11m)
[16] Ravi Dixit (IND) bt Ranvijay Singh Sidhu (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (18m)
[4] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) bt Om Semwal (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (26m)
[3] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) bt Arihant K S (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-1 (21m)
[10] Yusuf Elsherif (EGY) bt [WC] Aarav Gill (IND) 3-1: 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6 (44m)
[WC] Tavneet Singh Mundra (IND) bt [11] Jaideep Singh Sethi (IND) 3-1: 12-14, 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (33m)
[6] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt Pardeep Malik (IND) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-7 (23m)
[5] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt Adarsh Banodha (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (22m)
[12] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt Suraj Kumar Chand (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 (28m)
[14] Mohamed Gohar (EGY) bt Jaejin Yoo (KOR) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (26m)
[2] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt [WC] Aryan Pratap Singh (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (21m)

Women’s First Round
Sanika Choudhari (IND) bt Kaashvi Mangal (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 11-5 (16m)
Dong ju Song (KOR) bt Bijali Darvada (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-1, 11-4 (13m)
Janet Vidhi (IND) bt Nirupama Dubey (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (20m)
Khushi Puranik (IND) bt Mahak Talati (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-0, 11-2 (11m)
[WC] Yuvna Gupta (IND) bt Tharushi Kavindya (SRI) 3-0: 11-1, 11-1, 11-2 (11m)
Mingyeong Heo (KOR) bt Santi Battar (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (17m)
Amira Elrefaey (EGY) bt Navya Sundararajan (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (19m)
Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND) bt Aradhya Porwal (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (19m)