HCL PSA Challenger squash: Velavan Senthilkumar, Tanvi Khanna win top honours

Velavan Senthilkumar and Tanvi Khanna won once again to assert their supremacy in the HCL PSA Challenger squash tournament at the Shiv Nadar University on Tuesday.

Velavan Senthilkumar, Tanvi Khanna in the HCL PSA Challenger squash tournament in Greater Noida on Tuesday.

Velavan Senthilkumar and Tanvi Khanna won once again to assert their supremacy in the HCL PSA Challenger squash tournament at the Shiv Nadar University on Tuesday.

Second seed Tanvi Khanna limped towards the end but won 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 against the top seed Sunayna Kuruvilla in the women’s final.

Interestingly, Tanvi had beaten Sunayna 15-13 in the fifth game in the last final in Chennai. Tanvi capitalised on the two home events after the pandemic to accumulate useful world ranking points.

‘’It has been absolutely amazing playing two challenger events. This was yet another crucial match against Sunayna, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing against her at this stage’’, said Tanvi.

 

In the men’s final, third seed Velavan was equally assertive in taming the fourth seed Abhishek Pradhan, who had ousted the top seed in the semifinals. Velavan also won 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 for his second triumph in the current series. He did not drop a game in the tournament and was a notch above the rest.

‘’These tournaments have helped me earn crucial PSA ranking points and improve my world rankings. Not just the rankings, these tournaments have given me the confidence and the match play that I needed’’, said Velavan.

At the presentation, Rajat Chandolia, marketing head of HCL, assured that the organisation was committed ‘’to improving the squash ecosystem in the country and will continue working with SRFI to design and implement efforts in that direction’’.

The secretary-general of the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) praised the Shiv Nadar University for being a ‘’great host and providing an amazing squash venue’’.

The results (finals): Men: Velavan Senthilkumar bt Abhishek Pradhan 11-7, 11-6, 11-9. Women: Tanvi Khanna bt Sunayna Kuruvilla 11-7, 11-6, 11-9.