Mumbai, June 29 (IANS) India’s Om Semwal edged out Spain’s Hugo Jaen 15-13, 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 in 69 minutes in the men’s opening round of the PSA Challenger Tour-Mumbai at the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana (JCPG) Club on Monday.

The Indian fans’ eyes will be focused on top singles stars Velavan Senthilkumar and Tanvi Khanna, both of whom are ranked No. 3 in the country, as they lead the country’s challenge among 15 countries in the tournament, which will conclude on July 3.

The tournament features separate men’s and women’s PSA Challenger events, each carrying a prize purse of USD 15,000, along with valuable ranking points, and keen action is expected on all five days of the tournament.

Hong Kong’s Alex Lau and South Africa’s Hayley Ward will enjoy pride of place among the men and women, respectively, in the 24-player draw. India’s Velavan Senthlkumar (Rank 50) is seeded second among the men, while Tanvi Khanna (Rank 75) is seeded third behind Egypt’s Farida Walid. Among the seeded men, the other Indian in the top eight is the 7th seed, Suraj Kumar Chand.

The JVPG Club has three air-conditioned glass-backed squash courts, of which two will be used for matches, while one will be the practice court. Facilities like the state-of-the-art gymnasium and swimming pool will also be available to the players. A Gala Dinner to welcome the players and officials will be hosted by JVPG on Tuesday, June 30.

Other results: (1st round, Indians unless specified):

Men: Salah Eltorgman (Can) bt Yusuf Thani (Brn) 15-13, 11-4, 12-10; Md Syafiq Kamal (Mas) bt Ammar Altamimi (Kuw) 11-7, 11-3, 11-6; Ziad Ibrahim (Egy) bt Bryan Tze Kang Lim (Mas) 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6; Brendan MacDonald (Aus) bt Diwakar Singh 11-4, 11-4, 11-6; Rahul Baitha bt Ravindu Laksiri (SL) 11-7, 11-2, 5-1 (retd); Aryaveer Dewan bt Islam Kouritam (Egy) 15-13, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4; Ayaan Vaziralli bt Hridhaan Shah 11-6, 11-7, 11-3.

Women: Shameena Riaz bt Mahak Talati 11-1, 11-6, 11-3; Bo Ram Ryoo (Kor) bt Janet Vidhi 11-4, 11-4, 11-8; Rathika Seelan bt Yashi Jain 11-4, 11-7, 11-5; Sanya Vats bt Vyomika Khandelwal 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Anika Dubey bt Aaradhana Kasturiraj 11-4, 11-2, 11-3; Unnati Tripathi bt Mona Tamer (Egy) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9; Nirupama Dubey bt Eesha Shrivastava 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 13-12.

–IANS

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