Men & Women $6k PSA Challengers, 23-26 Aug, Chennai, India
[2] Tanvi Khanna (Ind) 3-2 [1] Sunanya Kuruvilla (Ind) 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 15-13 (44m)
[5] Velavan Senthilkumar (Ind) 3-0 [6] Abhishek Pradhan (Ind) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (25m)
Tanvi Khanna and Velavan Senthilkumar emerged winners at the 2nd HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg 3 being played at the Indian Squash Academy
2The finals of the 2nd HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg 3 began with the women’s match, and we were in for a nail-biting finish. Both, having won 1 match a piece in PSA events, this match kept up to the billing.
Tanvi drew first blood, but quickly Sunayna won the next two games, moving Tanvi to all corners with her effective backhand volleys and boasts. Tanvi clawed her way back in the 4th game and took the lead in the 5th. With aggressive drives and boasts, Sunanya took charge of the match leading 10-8. Sheer grit and determination from both thereon, Tanvi saved 3 match points to win the game 15-13 and her maiden PSA Tour title.
It was the clash between 5th and 6th seeded players in the men’s final. Velavan, five years Abhishek’s junior, were competing against each other for their first time. Velavan outclassed Abhishek with his movement and control to win his 2nd PSA title.
Semi-Finals :
Top seeds Sunanya Kuruvilla and Tanvi Khanna are through to the women’s final at the Indian Squash Academy, but after the cull of the men’s top seeds in the quarters it will be 5th and 6th seeds Velavan Senthilkumar and Abishek Pradhan who contest the men’s final.
Quarters :
Day One : Seven seeds through to the quarters
5th seeded Urwashi Joshi needed five games to defeat Rathika Seelan in round 2 of HCL SRFI Indian Tour Chennai Leg 3. Winning the first game, Urwashi seemed to be in command, but the aggressive play of Rathika saw her go in the lead to 2-1. Urwashi clawed back in the 4th and took a massive lead in the 5th game serving 9-2.
All seemed finished for Rathika, but she held her nerve, winning 8 points in a row serving for the match 10-9. Urwashi, using all her experience, used her delicate drop to force the game into a tie break and won the 5th game 12-10 in a total of 43 minutes.
In the only upset of the evening in the women’s category, Akshaya Sri defeated 6th seeded Sanika Choudhari in 4 games. Sanika won the first game but could not keep up the tempo of the fiery Akshaya, who booked herself in the quarterfinals.
In the men’s event seven of the eighth seeds also reached the quarter-finals, the only interloper being Kanhav Nanavati who took out sixth seed Rounak Yadav.
