Velavan Senthilkumar beats top seed Greg Lobban to win the Czech Open

Velavan Senthilkumar won the Czech Open squash title in Brno, beating top seed Greg Lobban of Scotland in the final. The fourth-seeded Indian, ranked 42nd in the world, overcame the world No. 31 by 13-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7 in the USD 35,000 PSA Copper-level event. It was Senthilkumar's 12th PSA Tour title and his second at Copper level, after his maiden win in the category at the Budapest Open in August. The final lasted 73 minutes, and the opening game alone took 26, with Senthilkumar rallying from 10-6 down and saving four game balls to take it 13-11.

He reached the final with wins over Brazil's Diego Gobbi and Argentina's Jeremias Azana, the eighth seed, in the quarter-finals. He had not dropped a game before the final, beating Gobbi, Azana and second seed Auguste Dussourd all in straight games at the Centrum Viktoria. Lobban, 34, had also reached the final without dropping a game, winning three straight-games matches of his own.

The title continues a strong season for Senthilkumar, who won two bronze medals at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, in the mixed team and men's team events. In Aichi-Nagoya he won bronze in the mixed team event alongside Joshna Chinappa and a second bronze with the men's team. Senthilkumar said afterwards that it had been hard mentally to stay focused through the long match, crediting Lobban as an opponent who always fights and never backs down. The title was his second Copper-level crown of the 2026-27 PSA Squash Tour season. The tournament was played at the Centrum Viktoria in Brno from 29 October to 2 November.