Velavan Senthilkumar wins Batch Open Squash title after defeating Melvil Scianimanico

India’s rising squash sensation Velavan Senthilkumar secured his eighth Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour title after winning the Batch Open Challenger event in Paris, France on April 29, Monday.

With this victory, the 26-year-old Velavan received the tournament-winning cash prize of USD 12,000. He defeated World no.158 from France Melvil Scianimanico by 11-6, 11-9, and 11-6 in the final to win the competition.

“Melvil played really well and there was a lot of crowd support for him as well. I had to be sharp from the start till the end, and I’m glad I could do that,” Senthilkumar told the media after winning the Challenger title.

How did Velavan Senthilkumar make it to the Batch Open Final?

Velavan Senthilkumar, the national champion who hails from Chennai, made it to the final after defeating 163rd-ranked Andes Ling from Hong Kong, China by 3-0 (11-2, 11-1, 11-6) in a one-sided affair that lasted for 22 minutes.

Earlier in the quarter-final, the 58th-ranked Indian squash star secured a win over Czech Republic player Jakub Solnicky, ranked at 107th spot, by 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, and 11-2) in a 37-minute game to storm into the semi-finals.

Before this, in the pre-quarter-final encounter, Velavan Senthilkumar defeated France’s Matteo Carrouget by 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, and 11-7). He is ranked at the 375th position in the current PSA Rankings.

Notably, Velavan Senthilkumar won the 2016 Asian Junior Squash final to emerge as the champion and also secured a win in the 2017 British Junior Open final. He went on to bag his first PSA title in April 2018 at the Madison Open in Wisconsin.

On the other hand, fourth-seeded squash player Akanksha Salunkhe suffered a loss over 76th-ranked Danielle Ray from Canada by 2-3 (12-10, 13-15, 11-6, 4-11 and 11-13) in the quarter-final of the Expression St James Open, a USD 20,000 PSA Challenger Tour event.

In the pre-quarter-final affair, Salunkhe defeated the 69th-ranked Nour Heikal from Egypt by 3-2 (11-13, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4, and 14-12) in a thrilling game to earn her spot in the quarter-final. Notably, Akanksha Salunkhe secured a title win in the Guatemala Open 2022.