Rising Stars El Torkey & Singh Win Indian Open Titles

Rising stars Anahat Singh and Kareem El Torkey claimed glory on finals day at the JSW Indian Open, beating Helen Tang and Abhay Singh respectively under the lights at the Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai.

The tournament finale was being held on the spectacular all-glass outdoor court in front of the Gymkhana's iconic clubhouse, with a full house both in both the stands and the press box.

The majority of those watching on were unsurprisingly backing the home favourites, with Indian representation in both finals.

A change to the schedule saw the women's final pushed back to be after the men's showdown, meaning the sun had set and the venue was surrounded by darkness by the time El Torkey and Singh took to the court.

El Torkey had knocked out three Indian players already earlier in the week, including third seed Velavan Senthilkumar, and went into this showdown with the Indian No.3 having not dropped a game in the tournament.

There was little to split the two players early on as game one went into a tiebreak, but it was El Torkey who came out on top after 15 minutes, taking the game 12-10.

He then carried that momentum into game two, racing to an 11-4 success, displaying more of the pin-point accuracy and outstanding movement we've seen all week.

Playing in front of a home crowd at the same club where he won the Indian national title a few months ago, Abhay Singh was never likely to throw in the towel, and he rallied to keep the match alive, closing out game three 11-6 before heading off court to huge cheers, with the crowd hoping for an epic comeback.

When Singh was 7-6 up in game four, they might have been thinking that's exactly what they were getting, but the comeback charge would ultimately fall short, with El Torkey taking his second match ball at 11-10 - after seeing the first saved at 10-9.

The young Egyptian let out a huge roar of emotion as the crowd - despite seeing the home favourite defeated - gave him rapturous round of applause, appreciative of the phenomenal squash they had seen.

El Torkey's win, did, however, leave hopes of an Indian victory resting solely on the shoulders of 17-year-old prodigy Anahat Singh in the women's final.

The teenage star became the Indian No.1 at the start of this week after claiming her fifth straight title - and her 10th overall - in Chennai last week, and had beaten Tang in their previous two encounters.

Despite those factors being in her favour the pressure on Singh was undoubtedly higher this week than in Chennai, with a packed-out crowd and a number of external media hoping to see her win.

But if she was feeling that pressure, she showed no signs of it in her play, displaying outstanding accuracy from the off, giving 16-year-old Tang little chance to attack as she had done so well in her semi-final win over Barb Sameh.

It took only six minutes for Singh to win game one and only another five to take game two, and while game three was closer, the young Indian player always looked in control, closing out victory on a well-disguised backhand at 10-8 in the third.

A quick phone call to her coach Gregory Gaultier followed moments after she left the court before she eventually got her hands on the trophy, fighting her way through the crowds of fans to get there.

"I'm really happy," she said, speaking after collecting it.

"It's my second title this week and also my second biggest one as well. I'd just like to thank my coaches, JSW for organising such an amazing tournament, and my family for always supporting me.

"I was quite tired actually, to be honest, but I'm glad I was able to pull through and I'm pretty happy with the way I played this week."