VIKRAM, FARIDA GET TOP BILLING IN CHALLENGER

New Delhi: Home boy and World No. 63 Vikram Malhotra got the billing among the boys while Egypt’s World No. 50 Farida Mohammed is top seeded player in the women’s section as the Squash Rackets Federation of India announced the launch of the HCL-SRFI India Tour, the multi-city PSA Challenger Tour event, here on Thursday. Apart from Vikram, Aditya Jagtap, Aadit Zaveri, Abhishek Pradhan and Abhishek Agarwal will be some of the top Indian names featuring in the draw of 32 in the $12000 men’s event. Singapore’s Chua Man Chin and Phillipines’ Robert Andrew Garcia are also in the draw. Apart from Farida, four other Egypt players — Salma Youssef, Menna Hamed, Menna Hamed and Hana Moataz — will be among the top players featuring in the $6000 women’s event. “The winner of the women’s event will get a direct entry to the World Championship in Egypt in November,0 said SRFI secretary general Cyrus Poncha. The event will give the Indian players an opportunity to compete against the world’s best at home turf as the tournament will witness participation from seven countries. HCL and SRFI plan to organise four PSA tournaments across four cities in the country, starting with a tournament at the Jaypee Greens Stadium at Greater Noida on Friday before moving to Chennai for second leg. Each tournament under the PSA tour will overlap with a junior squash tournament to allow the young players an opportunity to interact with the senior players and learn from them. The PSA tournament at Jaypee Greens will overlap with the HCL 11th Indian Junior Open, commencing on Monday.