Indian Tour Chennai Leg: Tournament Preview

The first event of the week on the PSA Challenger Tour will be the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg, which will take place from Monday, September 19 to Friday, September 23 at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, India.

The Challenger 10 level competition, which will run for five days, will feature both a men’s and women’s draw, with Egypt’s Kenzy Ayman and Salma Eltayeb, who did battle in the opening round of the Open de France de Squash just seven days earlier, as the tournament’s top two seeds.

They will be joined in the top four seedings by compatriot Haya Ali and India’s Tanvi Khanna, who will be the leading Indian in the women’s event, and one of 23 Indians in total who will be taking part in the Challenger 10 level competition.

Former World No.67 Sunayna Kuruvilla, along with compatriots Urwashi Joshi and Anjali Semwal, and Egypt’s Menna Walid, will make up the rest of the seeded players in the women’s competition, while Spain’s Ona Blasco and Lim Jee Nee of Singapore will be the only two women from their respective countries in action. Wildcard Anahat Singh, the 14-year-old that caused shockwaves at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham earlier this year, will feature in her first PSA Challenger Tour competition.

It will also be an Egyptian that heads up the men’s draw in Chennai, with World No.82 Yassin Elshafei as the tournament’s top seed. Compatriot Khaled Labib, along with the Czech Republic’s Martin Svec and the leading Indian in the draw, Abhay Singh, will make up the top four seeds.

Kuwaiti No.1 Ammar Altamimi will participate in the first of two tournaments this week, after of the 1st Kuwait International Squash Championship, while India’s Sandeep Ramachandran and Velavan Senthilkumar, both winners on Tour last year, will also be in action.

The men’s draw will feature more nationalities, with the likes of England’s Lewis Doughty, Nigeria’s Adegoke Onaopemipo and the Japanese duo of Tomotaka Endo and Naoki Hayashi all in action in Chennai this week. 

The event takes place from Monday, September 19 to Friday, September 23 at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, 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 – Chennai Leg
[2] Martin Svec (CZE) – [Bye]
Ho Ka Hei (HKG) v [9/16] Ziad Ibrahim (EGY)
[9/16] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) v Seif Nasser (EGY)
[6] Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) – [Bye]
[8] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) – [Bye]
Lam Shing Fung (HKG) v [9/16] Rahul Baitha (IND)
[9/16] Navaneeth Prabhu (IND) v [WC] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND)
[3] Khaled Labib (EGY) – [Bye]
[4] Abhay Singh (IND) – [Bye]
Mahmoud Abouelleil (EGY) v [9/16] Lewis Doughty (ENG)
[9/16] Naoki Hayashi (JPN) v [WC] Arihant K S (IND)
[7] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) – [Bye]
[5] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) – [Bye]
[WC] Yuvraj Wadhwani (IND) v [9/16] Abdelaziz Hegazy (EGY)
[9/16] Adegoke Onaopemipo (NGR) v Ravi Dixit (IND)
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) – [Bye]

Women’s First Round Draw: 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg
[1] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) – [Bye]
[WC] Vasudha Surange (IND) v [9/16] Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND)
[9/16] Tiana Parasrampuria (IND) v Radhika Rathore (IND)
[7] Urwashi Joshi (IND) – [Bye]
[6] Menna Walid (EGY) – [Bye]
[9/16] Pooja Arthi R (IND) v Lim Jee Nee (SGP)
[9/16] Nour Ramy (EGY) v Sanika Choudhari (IND)
[3] Tanvi Khanna (IND) – [Bye]
[4] Haya Ali (EGY) – [Bye]
[WC] Anahat Singh (IND) v [9/16] Janet Vidhi (IND)
[9/16] Shahd Elrefaey (EGY) v [WC] Shameena Riaz (IND)
[5] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) – [Bye]
[8] Anjali Semwal (IND) – [Bye]
Amina El Rihany (EGY) v [9/16] Ona Blasco (ESP)
[9/16] Salma El Aify (EGY) v Sunita Patel (IND)
[2] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) – [Bye]