HCL-SRFI Indian Tour: Abhay Singh, Amina Orfi emerge champions of second leg in Jodhpur
India’s Abhay Singh and Amina Orfi from Egypt emerged as the champions in the men’s and women’s categories respectively in the second leg of the HCL-SRFI Indian Tour squash tournament at Umaid Bhawan Palace, here on Monday.
India’s Abhay Singh and Amina Orfi from Egypt emerged as the champions in the men’s and women’s categories respectively in the second leg of the HCL-SRFI Indian Tour squash tournament at Umaid Bhawan Palace, here on Monday.
The final match in the men’s category was played between Abhay (World Rank 81) and Zahed Salem (World Rank 71) where India won the title with a score of 13-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 in a contest that lasted for 46 minutes.
In the women’s category, Amina (World Rank 152) beat Malaysia’s Aira Azman (World Rank 79) 11-6, 11-9, 12-10 in the final, which lasted for 40 minutes.
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The winners, who got 12K dollars each, were felicitated by Jodhpur’s Yuvrani Gayatri Rajye.
“We introduced the HCL Squash Podium Program in 2019 to identify untapped talent and nurture existing squash players across the country. With this intent, we organized the PSA tour in the historic city of Jodhpur for the first time which was well received by everyone,” said Rajat Chandolia, AVP and Head, HCL Brand.
“Just like our previous tournaments, this one also helped in improving the ranking of Indian squash players and gave them a level playing field to compete against their international counterparts. I congratulate all the winners and applaud all those who competed in this PSA Challenger tour,” he added.
The tournament witnessed participation from 48 players from 9 countries including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Germany, Sri Lanka, Egypt and India among others. Some of the key players who participated were Abhay Singh, Akanksha Salunkhe, Cheng Nga Ching, Zahed Salem, Aira Azman, and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu among many others.
“Abhay, Velavan and Akanksha have all played brilliantly in this event and are steadily improving their ranking. Besides HCL and SRFI’s joint efforts, we also see enthusiasm for the sport among the next-generation players. We are committed to the sport’s growth and will continue hosting PSA across different cities, allowing more Indian players to compete globally,” said Cyrus Poncha, Secretary-General, Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI).
Bhuvneshwari Kumari, a 16-time National Champion, recipient of prestigious awards like Padma Shri and Arjuna Award, and Rajat Chandolia, Associate Vice-President and Head of HCL Brand were also present at the final event.
(IANS)
