HCL SRFI Chennai 3: Senthilkumar and Khanna Victorious

Velavan Senthilkumar and Tanvi Khanna have claimed the titles at the HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai 3 at the Indian Squash Academy earlier today.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Challenger 10 level tournament was held with domestic restrictions, allowing those based in India to play in the event.

Senthilkumar was the No.5 seed for the men’s draw, and the World No.185 started his campaign with a win over Tarun Mammen in the second round, after receiving a bye through to the last 16 in Chennai.

The 23-year-old then defeated No.2 seed Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu in the quarter-finals, before overcoming No.4 seed Abhishek Agarwal to make it through to the final.

In the final on Thursday morning in Chennai, Senthilkumar defeated Abhishek Pradhan in straight games, winning 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 in just 25 minutes to secure his first title since 2018, when he won the Madison Open in the United States.

There was a first victory on the PSA Tour for Tanvi Khanna, after she claimed the women’s title this week. She started the event with comfortable victories over Pooja Arthi R and Janet Vidhi.

She needed just 18 minutes to overcome No.4 seed Aparajitha Balamurukan in the semi-finals, before coming up against the tournament’s top seed, Sunayna Kururvilla, in the final.

Khanna took the first game of the final, before the top seed fought back, taking both the second and third games to hold the advantage in the match. However, the 25-year-old would not be beaten, and she came back to claim the victory, with a 15-13 scoreline in the fifth.

Results: HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai 3
Men’s Final
[5] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt [6] Abhishek Pradhan (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (25m)

Women’s Final
[2] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt [1] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) 3-2: 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 15-13 (44m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
[5] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt [4] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 14-12, 11-5 (37m)
[6] Abhishek Pradhan (IND) bt [7] Rahul Baitha (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (25m)

Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt Akshaya Sri (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-1 (17m)
[2] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt [4] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (18m)

Men’s Quarter-Finals
[5] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt [2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 3-0: 9-4 rtd (3m)
[4] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) bt [WC] Kanhav Nanavati (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (26m)
[7] Rahul Baitha (IND) bt [3] Aadit Zaveri (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-1 (22m)
[6] Abhishek Pradhan (IND) bt [1] Abhay Singh (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (24m)

Women’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt [5] Urwashi Joshi (IND) 3-1: 17-15, 11-6, 11-13, 11-5 (30m)
Akshaya Sri (IND) bt [3] Sachika Balvani (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-2 (19m)
[4] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND) bt [8] Abhisheka Shannon (IND) 3-0: 13-11, 11-7, 11-7 (20m)
[2] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt [7] Janet Vidhi (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (21m)

Men’s Round Two
[2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt Jaideep Sethi (IND) 3-2: 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 10-12, 12-10 (45m)
[5] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt Tarun Mammen (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-6 (21m)
[WC] Kanhav Nanavati (IND) bt [8] Rounak Yadav (IND) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-6 (28m)
[4] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) bt Jamal Sakib (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 (40m)
[3] Aadit Zaveri (IND) bt [WC] Yuvraj Wadhwani (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (26m)
[7] Rahul Baitha (IND) bt [WC] Suraj Chand (IND) 3-2: 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, 2-11, 11-8 (51m)
[6] Abhishek Pradhan (IND) bt Mohit Bhatt (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 (26m)
[1] Abhay Singh (IND) bt [WC] Navaneeth Prabhu (IND) 3-0: 15-13, 12-10, 11-6 (50m)

Women’s Round Two
[1] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt Shameena Riaz (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 (14m)
[5] Urwashi Joshi (IND) bt Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (IND) 3-2: 11-5, 4-11, 5-11, 11-4, 12-10 (43m)
Akshaya Sri (IND) bt [6] Sanika Choudhari (IND) 3-1: 8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 (26m)
[3] Sachika Balvani (IND) bt Aaradhana Kasturiraj (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-1 (20m)
[4] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND) bt Navya Gupta (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 (13m)
[8] Abhisheka Shannon (IND) bt Anjali Semwal (IND) 3-0: 12-10, 12-10, 11-9 (28m)
[7] Janet Vidhi (IND) bt Sunita Patel (IND) 3-1: 11-6, 11-9, 2-11, 11-5 (31m)
[2] Tanvi Khanna (IND) bt Pooja Arthi R (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-5 (30m)

Men’s Round One
Jaideep Sethi (IND) bt Rishit Dunga (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-2 (23m)
Tarun Mammen (IND) bt Raju Shingava (IND) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-1 (30m)
[WC] Kanhav Nanavati (IND) bt Ranvijay Singh (IND) 3-1: 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 (35m)
Jamal Sakib (IND) bt Naresh Shingva (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (17m)
[WC] Yuvraj Wadhwani (IND) bt Ravi Dixit (IND) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-2 (29m)
[WC] Suraj Chand (IND) bt R Sreekartikeyan (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-2 (29m)
Mohit Bhatt (IND) bt Sumer Singh Ahluwalia (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-0 (20m)
[WC] Navaneeth Prabhu (IND) bt Vaibhav Chauhan (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (22m)

Women’s Round One
Shameena Riaz (IND) bt Saniya Jaggi (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 7-2 rtd (18m)
Akshaya Sri (IND) bt Radhika Rathore (IND) 3-1: 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 (31m)
Aaradhana Kasturiraj (IND) bt [WC] Ananya Narayanan (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-1, 11-3 (22m)
Navya Gupta (IND) bt Tiana Parasrampuria (IND) 3-2: 13-11, 4-11, 0-11, 13-11, 11-6 (38m)
Anjali Semwal (IND) bt Skandha Dogra (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (22m)
Sunita Patel (IND) bt Aishwaria Payyan (IND) 3-0: 11-0, 11-6, 11-8 (24m)
Pooja Arthi R (IND) bt [WC] Mithali Surana (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (20m)