SDAT Squash World Cup: India beat defending champion Egypt; storms into first-ever final

India stunned defending champions Egypt to storm into the final of the 2025 SDAT Squash World Cup at Chennai’s Express Avenue Mall on Saturday.

The hosts registered a hard-fought 3-0 win over Egypt to register their best-ever performance in the Squash World Cup, having already won a bronze in the 2023 edition.

India will now play Hong Kong, China in the final. The top seeds came back from 2-0 down to draw against Japan and book a place in the final.

National champion Velavan Senthilkumar stepped in for the hosts and was quick to give an early advantage with a commanding 3-0 (7-1, 7-3, 7-6) win against World No. 96 Ibrahim Elkabbani.

The final game saw glimpses of fightback from Ibrahim and briefly led 6-5 in the third game, but Velavan, World no 45, was quick to recover and sealed the match.

Seventeen-year-old Anahat Singh fought out a tense tie against the world No. 44, with the contest going down to the final game. Anahat beat Nour Heikal 3-2 (6-7, 7-5, 7-3, 3-7, 7-3) in a dramatic tie.

Then, Abhay Singh, India’s top-ranked men’s squash player at world No. 29, went on to wrap up the game in India’s favour, defeating Adam Hawal 3-1 (7-5, 6-7, 7-5, 7-6).

Defending champion Egypt beat Iran, Japan and Australia to make the semi-final, while India registered wins over Switzerland, Brazil and South Africa to make the last four.

Semifinal Results:

India vs Egypt

Velavan Senthilkumar bt Ibrahim Elkabbani 3-0 (7-1, 7-3, 7-6)

Anahat Singh bt Nour Heikal 3-2 (6-7, 7-5, 7-3, 3-7, 7-3)

Abhay Singh bt Adam Hawal 3-1 (7-5, 6-7, 7-5, 7-6)

Joshna Chinnappa vs Nardine Sameh Garas DNP

Hong Kong, China 2-2 Japan

Henry Leung 2-3 Tomotaka Endo

Tomato Ho 0-3 Satomi Watanabe

Alex Lau 3-0 Ryunosuke Tsukue

Ka Yi Lee 3-1 Akari Midorikawa