Squash
Asian Individual C'ship 2023: Velavan Senthilkumar becomes only second Indian man to reach final
Indian veteran Saurav Ghosal had finished runners-up in the 2017 edition before winning the 2019 edition of the Asian Individual Squash Championship.
Velavan Senthilkumar (Source: Hong Kong Squash)
Velavan Senthilkumar defeated Malaysia's Ivan Chee Wern Yuen 3-1 on Friday in the semi-finals of the ongoing Asian Individual Squash Championship 2023 in Hong Kong. With this win, Velavan became only the second Indian man in history to enter the finals of the tournament.
Indian veteran Saurav Ghosal had finished runners-up in the 2017 edition before winning the 2019 edition of the Asian Individual Squash Championship.
The semi-finals was the first match in which an opponent took a game off of Senthilkumar. Nevertheless, the 25-year-old didn't let that aberration get the better of him as he sailed past Yuen with ease, with the final score reading 11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, the match finishing in just under 45 minutes.
In the other semi-final, top seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia beat local Chi Hin Henry Leung 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 12-10) to reach the final. Moreover, Eain goes to his second-consecutive final at the Asian Championship after he won the 2021 edition.
Senthilkumar will face defending champion Eain on June 10 at 2pm IST in a bid to become only the second Indian man to clinch the Asian Individual Squash Championship title.
