The Maharashtra State Open, one of the most sought-after events on the Indian squash calendar for almost four decades, has become a PSA World Tour event - and is being held this week at the Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai, one of the oldest sporting institutions in the country which has been promoting sport since 1875. "This is the second PSA event in the last three months in India," said Ritwik Bhattac
harya, the recently-appointed PSA South East Asia Representative. "Plans are on to try and do many more including a grand World Championship in 2014/15. "The Maharashtra State PSA Open is the first long standing event to convert its Open tournament to a PSA 15k Challenger event and we are hoping this trend continues with other clubs also doing at least one PSA event a year in India," added the five-time Indian champion. "The SRFI (Squash Rackets Federation of India) has really helped the organisers put up the event and we are in a very exciting period with the 2020 Olympic bid around the corner. The Bombay Gymkhana is doing various promotions including a charity drive 'squash a mile' as well as a national junior event so that the whole squash community can come out and support our wonderful sport!"
Malaysia's former world No7 Ong Beng Hee (pictured) heads the field. The newly-crowned Malaysian national champion, currently ranked 23 in the world, is expected to meet Egypt's world No46 Omar Abdel Aziz in Saturday's final. India's second and third highest-ranked players in the world lead local interest in the draw. World No66 Harinder Pal Sandhu takes on Egyptian qualifier Shehab Essam Hosny, while Mumbai-based Mahesh Mangaonkar, ranked 22 places lower, faces 17-year-old wildcard player Kush Kumar, the recent Asian Youth Games gold medallist. Updated 1st round draw:
[1] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Zahed Mohamed (EGY)
Ravi Dixit (IND) v [Q] Deepak Mishra (IND)
Johan Bouquet (FRA) v [Q] Hannan Tarmidi (MAS)
[3] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) v Ahmed Atef (EGY)
[4] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) v Joe Chapman (IVB)
Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) v [Q] Shehab Essam Hosny (EGY)
Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v [WC] Kush Kumar (IND)
[2] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) v [Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY)
Qualifying finals results:
Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt Xavier Blasco Marchal (ESP) 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (24m)
Hannan Tarmidi (MAS) bt Mohamed El Tabaa (EGY) 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7 (61m)
Shehab Essam Hosny (EGY) bt Sanjay Singh (MAS) 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5 (64m)
Deepak Mishra (IND) bt Steven London (ENG) 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5 (82m)
1st qualifying round:
Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt Rishad Pandole (IND) 11-7, 11-6, 11-3 (22m)
Xavier Blasco Marchal (ESP) bt Chaitanya Shah (IND) 11-1, 11-6, 11-8 (25m)
Mohamed El Tabaa (EGY) bt Sandeep Jangra (IND) 11-7, 6-11, 11-5, 8-11, 13-11 (50m)
Hannan Tarmidi (MAS) bt Vikas Jangra (IND) 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 (43m)
Sanjay Singh (MAS) bt Abhimanu Shah (IND) 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 (25m)
Shehab Essam Hosny (EGY) bt Aryaman Adik (IND) 11-1, 11-1, 11-1 (22m)
Deepak Mishra (IND) bt Moses Durosinmi (NGR) w/o
Steven London (ENG) bt Madhav Dhingra (IND) 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 (40m)
- See more at: http://www.psaworldtour.com/news/20130903/indias-maharashtra-state-open-joins-psa-tour_2281852_3447496#sthash.K0kmbttG.dpuf
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