PITTSBURG: Reigning National champion Velavan Senthilkumar went down fighting 11-2, 11-4, 11-8 to Egyptian world No 21 Youssef Ibrahim in the quarterfinals of the Pittsburgh Open squash in Pittsburgh (US) on Friday.

It was the Indian’s maiden PSA World Tour Silver quarterfinal, in his first outing of the year, following a breakout 2023 that saw the Tamil Nadu player, ranked No 63 in the world, win four PSA titles in his first full year as pro.

Velavan made it to the quarters after a second-round upset over No 8 seed Faraz Khan, and looked stronger in the second and third games against fourth seed Ibrahim.

However, the experienced Egyptian was always a step ahead, and was quoted as saying by the official PSA squash website: “Velavan is such a good player. We have played so many times and he’s always given me a hard time on court. I’m just glad I held it together and did well.”