Navaneeth stars as PSA event begins  

CHENNAI: Despite tumultuous start that saw the event postponed by two days due to Covid scare, the 2nd edition of the HCL SRFI Indian Tour is underway in full swing. The squash event marks the first PSA Tournament on the Challenger Tour held in the county since the lockdown commenced.

On Monday, Sheif Shenawy of Egypt beat Veer Chotrani at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai. Chotrani joins his fellow countrymen Rounak Yadav and Ravi Dixit who had lost their matches as well earlier in the day. In a shock loss, World 271 Yash Fadye lost to Navaneeth Prabhu 3-1. 

The women’s leg had local girl Shameena Riaz beat Tiana Parasrampuria 3-2 in a nail-bitting match. The first day of the women’s tie saw Rathika Seelan beat World 374 Varvara Esina of Russia 3-0 while Abhisheka Shannon beat Akshaya Sri 3-1.

The event was scheduled to begin on Saturday and conclude on Wednesday but due to two Indian players being tested positive for coronavirus, it was rescheduled for Monday. The final will be held on Friday. All of the players underwent a second round of testing on Monday morning and tested negative. 

Results

Men: Navaneeth Prabhu (IND) bt Yash Fadte (IND) 11-9, 9-11,11-5, 11-5; Seif Shenawy (EGY) bt Veer Chotrani (IND) 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6; Vladislav Titov (RUS) bt Rounak Yadav (IND) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6; Aly Hussein (EGY) bt Ravi Dixit (IND) 11-6, 11-3, 11-6.

Women: Shameena Riaz (IND) bt Tiana Parasrampuria (IND) 11-7, 11-4, 10-12, 8-11, 13-11; Abhisheka Shannon (IND) bt Akshaya Sri (IND) 11-1, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12; Pooja Arthi R (IND) bt Radhika Rathore (IND) 12-10, 11-9, 11-8; Varvara Esina (RUS) bt Rathika Seelan (IND) 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4; Yoshna Singh (IND) bt Aaradhana Kasturiraj (IND) 11-4, 11-8, 11-5; Vasudha Surange (IND) bt Bijli Darvada (IND) 11-3, 11-6, 11-0.