Sparring with World No. 15 Mohamed ElShorbagy and World No. 22 Baptiste Masotti under the watchful eyes of French coach Gregory Gaultier in Prague over the last few weeks has made India’s Velavan Senthilkumar a more solid and consistent player.

The 28-year-old’s preparation ahead of the new season paid handsome dividends as he clinched his maiden PSA World Tour title at the Budapest Open on Saturday. In the Copper event, the World No. 54 defeated Hungary’s Balazs Farkas 11-4, 11-2, 11-3 in the final to bag his 11th PSA crown.

On winning the biggest trophy of his career yet, Velavan said: “This is the best I’ve played in terms of the quality of squash and the consistency I displayed.”

Working with Gaultier, a former World No. 1, and Saurav Ghosal ahead of the new season helped him immensely. “With Gaultier, I am putting in the hard yards and with Saurav, I am working on a few technical aspects,” he said.

Beating top seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia for the first time — in the last-eight stage — was a huge confidence booster for the Indian. “I have grown up with him playing the Asian juniors. This was my first win against him,” he added.

Velavan proved that the victory over the Malaysian was no flash in the pan as he defeated his compatriot and third seed Veer Chotrani in the semifinals. “That was another amazing match. I was down 8-10 in the fifth game. Eventually winning it 12-10 was a really good indicator [of how I played],” he said.

His ultimate goal is to break into the world’s top 20 in singles by the end of the season.

Excited

The southpaw is excited to play with Joshna Chinappa in mixed doubles at the Asian Games. “She is the most experienced player in the Indian team. She knows all the subtleties of doubles. I am trying to learn all of that from her,” said Velavan, who had won bronze with Joshna at the Asian Doubles Championships in June.

Velavan Senthilkumar and Joshna Chinappa completed a double each in the third HCL National doubles squash championships at the Indian Squash Academy here on Saturday, clinching the mixed doubles title after winning the men’s and women’s crowns respectively.

After top seeds Joshna and Rathika Seelan secured the women’s title with a comfortable 11-8, 11-4 win over the unseeded pair of Janet Vidhi and Pooja Arthi, Velavan and Abhay Singh claimed the men’s title for the third straight time.

Abhay and Velavan won the opening game 11-8 after Suraj Kumar Chand and Rahul Baitha fought back from 5-8 to 7-8.

The pair took control of the second game after an even start, with Abhay’s delicate drop into the corner and Velavan’s crisp backhand winner helping them build a 5-2 lead. Suraj and Rahul briefly fought back to 4-5, but Abhay and Velavan maintained the pressure with controlled rallies and sharp winners to seal the game 11-5.

In the mixed doubles summit clash, Joshna and Velavan took the opening game 11-7 after leading 7-3, with Abhay and Rathika narrowing the deficit to 7-8.

Abhay and Rathika led 7-4 and later 9-7 in the second game, but Joshna and Velavan fought back strongly, levelling 9-9 before taking the final two points — including a crucial stroke award — to clinch the game 11-9.

The results (finals): Men: Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar bt Rahul Baitha and Suraj Kumar Chand 11-8, 11-5.

Women: Joshna Chinappa and Rathika Seelan bt Janet Vidhi and Pooja Arthi 11-8, 11-4.

Mixed: Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar bt Rathika Seelan and Abhay Singh 11-7, 11-9.