Daijiworld Media Network - Budapest

Budapest, Aug 28: India’s Velavan Senthilkumar advanced to the final of the Budapest Open Squash Championship after defeating compatriot Veer Chotrani in a thrilling five-game semifinal in the Hungarian capital.

The eighth-seeded Senthilkumar, ranked 54th in the world, prevailed over third seed Chotrani 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 1-11, 12-10 on Thursday evening to reach his 15th PSA Tour final.

Senthilkumar will face local favourite Balazs Farkas in Friday’s title clash at the USD 43,500 PSA Copper event.

The final will be the third meeting between Senthilkumar and Farkas on the PSA Tour. The Indian won their most recent encounter in 2024, while the Hungarian had prevailed in their 2019 meeting.

Senthilkumar had earlier produced a major upset in the quarterfinals, defeating Malaysian top seed and world No. 18 Eain Yow Ng 11-2, 11-9, 11-8.

The Indian raced to a 9-2 lead in the opening game after the scores were level at 2-2 and held off a late fightback from Ng to take a two-game advantage. He completed the straight-game victory in 53 minutes.

Chotrani, ranked 38th in the world, reached the semifinals after defeating sixth seed and world No. 51 Mohamed ElSherbini of Egypt 14-12, 12-14, 11-6, 11-8 in the quarterfinals.

Both Indians had earlier recorded four-game victories in the pre-quarterfinals.

Chotrani, who received a first-round bye, defeated Portugal’s Rui Soares 13-11, 12-14, 11-9, 12-10.

Senthilkumar, meanwhile, overcame fifth seed Raphael Kandra of Germany 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-2 after defeating Britain’s Will Salter 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 in the opening round.