HCL-SRFI Indian Tour: India's Abhay Singh, Amina Orfi of Egypt emerge champions as Jodhpur leg concludes

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Jodhpur, Nov 21: The second leg of the HCL SRFI Indian Tour 2022, held at Umaid Bhavan Palace and Bodhi International School, came to an end on Monday (November 21) with India's Abhay Singh and Egypt's Amina Orfi emerging as the winners in the men's and women's category respectively. The PSA $12K Challenger Tour was organised by HCL which is a leading global conglomerate.

The first match of the evening was the women's category final between Malaysia's Aira Azman (World Rank 79) and Orfi (World Rank 152) at the picturesque Umaid Bhavan Palace lawns. 15-year-old Orfi - who is the U19 World Champion - won the match in three straight games against the top-seeded Malaysian. The match which lasted for 40 minutes finished in Orfi's favour with a score of 11-6, 11-9, 12-10.

The men's category final was the show stopper where local favourite Abhay Singh defeated top-seed Egyptian 3-1. Abhay Singh (WR 81) got stiff competition from Zahed Salem (World Rank 71) in the first game which finished for 13-11 in the favour of the Indian.

The senior pro from Egypt came back strongly in the second game to win it 7-11. But Singh was too good for the higher-ranked Egyptian on this evening and went on to win the remaining two games 11-9 and 11-8 to claim the title. Singh had also won the Chennai leg of the tournament earlier this year as well.

The winners were felicitated by Jodhpur's Yuvrani Gayatri Rajye while several other dignitaries were also present at the venue. Rajat Chandolia, Associate Vice-President and Head of HCL Brand, Cyrus Poncha, Secretary of Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) and Mrs Bhuvneshwari Kumari, a 16-time National Champion, recipient of prestigious awards like Padma Shri and Arjuna Award were present.

The winners expressed their happiness after winning the title and exuded confidence that the performance of this PSA Challenger tour will bode them well in the upcoming competitions.

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.

Congratulating the winners, Rajat Chandolia, AVP and Head, HCL Brand, said, "HCL has been supporting Squash for over six years now. In addition, 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 organised the PSA tour in the historic city of Jodhpur for the first time which was well received by everyone. 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."

Cyrus Poncha, Secretary-General of SRFI, said, "I am thrilled that Squash has gained popularity as a competitive sport as our players continue to shine on the global stage. 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. I also thank the Sports Authority of India and the Rajasthan Squash Rackets Association for supporting this event. Finally, I would like to congratulate the winners and thank all the participants from across the world who have travelled for this Jodhpur PSA Leg."