Mumbai, Dec 21 (IANS): HCL-SRFI India Tour, a five-day squash tournament held at Willingdon Sports Club, Mumbai, came to an end on Saturday. The five-day tournament saw participation from about 50 players from 10 countries. Harinder Pal Singh from India won the Championship in the mens category of USD 20,000; while Hana Ramadan from Egypt won the womens event of USD 12,000. The winners were felicitated by former cricketer and chief guest Amol Mazumdar.
The finale match in the men's category was fought between Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu from India and Tomotaka Endo from Japan where Harinder won the title with a score of 3-0 in a match that lasted for 30 minutes. In the women's category Hana Ramadan from Egypt beat Lucy Turmel from England with a 3-1 score in a match lasting 51 minutes.
Cyrus Poncha, Secretary General, Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) said, "I am extremely delighted with the performance of Abhishek Agarwal who was a wild card entry but played very well and made it to the semi-finals. I would also like to congratulate Harinder for his brilliant performance and his first tournament win in the 20k category. This was a very eventful tournament, where all the top seeds lost early and the younger players performed exceptionally well. Not just in India, but even in tournaments abroad, the Indian squash players are setting new benchmarks of success and I am confident that the future of Indian Squash is very bright. Our association with HCL has been beneficial for the sport and this is the 13th event that we have successfully concluded under our partnership."
Congratulating the winners of the HCL-SRFI India Tour, Rajat Chandolia, Head of Brand Initiatives, HCL Corporation said, "When HCL started supporting Squash, our vision was to popularize the game and ensure that Indian players were ready for the international podium. I believe that the HCL Squash Podium Program, which was conceptualized in partnership with SRFI, has started to drive visible impact towards realizing that goal. The HCL-SRFI India Tour, for example, has helped Indian players improve their international rankings, while playing from their home ground."