Dipika Pallikal, Saurav Ghosal clinch national
squash titles
Dipika Pallikal dethroned
defending champion Joshna Chinappa to regain the women's
title in the 73rd Senior National Squash Championship
here at Otters Club, Mumbai.
The men's crown was
captured by title holder and top seed Saurav Ghosal, who
created history by winning it for the 11th time,
defeating fourth seed Harinderpal Singh Sandhu in five
hard-fought games.
Ghosal beat Sandhu 11-7, 7-11,
3-11, 11-8, 14-12 after an 88-minute battle to go past
RK Narpat Singh's feat of 10 titles, won from 1946 to
1955.
"We have played five national finals. We
played well right through. There was very little to
separate us. It's hardest to play Harinder Pal. It was
one of the most enjoyable and high quality matches I
have played," said Ghosal after his triumph.
It
was also his second successive five-game match after
having got past third seed Vikram Malhotra in the
semi-finals.
World no. 19 Dipika, who was playing
in the nationals after a five-year gap when she won in
2011, made it to the tops once again by beating
arch-rival Joshna 4-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 in 43 minutes.
Saurav, Joshana, Parthiban,
Saurabh Nayar, Rishad, Sanjay Rajpal, Jaideep and Arun
Rabindranath are winner in Nationals
It
proved to be so near, yet so far for reigning champion
Harinder Pal Sandhu as he went down fighting to his
senior and far experienced Saurav Ghosal in five
thrilling games in the men’s final of the SBT-63rd
senior national squash championship.
Two games
up and again 6-2 up in the fourth game, Harinder seemed
to have got into the groove for another tilt at the
title, but the wily Ghosal is a different player under
pressure. He proved it with an outstanding fight back
and lunging ahead in the decisive final game. Ghosal
thus helped himself to his tenth national title.
The women’s final too was well contested though the
scoreline would not suggest that. Joshna Chinappa showed
experience mattered in the final analysis while dousing
the enthusiasm and challenge of national junior champion
Harshit Kaur Jawanda. This was Joshna’s 14th national
title as she is well on way to reach that magical number
of 16, which is the number of titles that Bhuveneswari
Kumari had won for a record total.
The
results: Men: Saurav Ghosal
(TN) bt Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (TN) 8-11 4-11 11-6
11-7 11-6 Women: Joshana Chinappa
(TN) bt Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Del) 11-6 12-10 11-5 Professionals: Parthiban Ayyapan (TN)
bt Abhishek Agarwal (Mah) 8-11 11-4 11-7 11-4 Men Over 35: Saurabh Nayar (Chand) bt
Cyrus Poncha (TN) 11-9 11-1 11-1 Men Over 40:
Rishad Pandole (Mah) bt Vikas Nayar (Chand) 11-8 11-8
11-6 Men Over 45: Sanjay Rajpal
(Karna) bt Rohit Thawani (Mah)11-7 6-11 4-11 11-9 11-8 Men Over 50: Jaideep Grewal (Chand) bt
Sriram Rao (Mah) 11-7 11-8 11-7 Men Over 55:
Arun Rabindranath (Karna) bt Vaman Apte (mah) 9-11 11-6
9-11 11-4 11-9
From 4th to 7th September 2008, Delhi
Gymkhana, New Delhi
Dushyant Singh Jamwal
of Delhi Gymkhana won a double by winning the Over 40 & 45 categories in
the National Masters Squash Championship being played at the Delhi
Gymkhana Courts.
Dushyant beat Sanjeev
Anand also of Delhi Gymkhana in Straight sets 9-6 9-4 9-5 in 34 minutes and
beat O’neil Pramanik of West Bengal also in 3 sets 9-1 9-1 9-0.
The only match that
went the distance was in the Over 50 category where Vijay Jaini of Delhi
beat Dr. B I Singh also of Delhi in a hard fought 4 setter in a match
lasting 43 minutes. Dr. B I Singh earlier won the over 55 category
beating Rajiv Reddy of Tamil Nadu.
8th
title for Joshna Chinappa, Saurav Ghosal & Bala also wins
Defending champion Joshna
Chinappa defeated Dipika Pallikal 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 to win her eighth title,
in the 56th senior National squash championships at the Secunderabad Club.
In the men’s final, 3
time National winner Saurav Ghosal (Tamil Nadu) warded off a spirited
challenge from Siddarth Suchde (Maharashtra) before winning 11-13, 11-8,
11-5, 11-4. Siddharth had given tough fight in the semi-finals to no 2 seed
Ritwik ( Delhi ) who lost to him due to injury.
Siddharth gave tough
fight in the first game and he won after being 11all by 13-11, in the
second game also he was leading with 8 points before Saurav showed his real
game and made it 1-1.But in the next 2 games he seems to have lost his fire
and gave away easily to Saurav who won his 4th National title.
“I dedicate this win to
my grandparents — Dr. S.B.N. Ghosal and Dina Ghosal,” an elated Ghosal said.
The women’s event was a
one sided affair as Joshna crushed Dipika 3-0 but for the first game in
which Dipika gave tough fight to Joshna.
“It is always a great
feeling to be the National champion, though the first title when I was just
14 stands out as very special,” said Joshna.
“Every National is a
different proposition and one needs to be consistent over the years to win
these titles. I am happy that I am able to do that,” she said.
In the pro-category, the
23-year-old A. Parthiban defeated his former coach and 10-time champion B.
Balamurugan 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8
Doubles
final: Men: Saurav Ghosal and Harinder Pal Singh (TN) bt Bala Murugan and
A. Parthiban (TN) 9-2, 4-9, 9-4, 4-9, 9-8; Semifinal:
Men: Saurav Ghosal and Harinder Pal Singh (TN) bt Niraj
Shirgaokar and Gajendra Singh (Mah) 9-7, 11-9, 9-3; Bala Murugan and A.
Parthiban (TN) bt Cyrus Poncha and Srivatsan Subramaniam (TN) 5-9, 10-11,
9-1, 9-5, 9-6.
Quarterfinals:
Saurav Ghosal and Harinder Pal Singh (TN) bt Naishadh Lalwani and Rushabh
Vora (Mah) 9-3, 9-4 9-7; Bala Muruganand A. Parthiban (TN) bt Amjad Khan
and Naresh Kumar (Har) 9-6, 9-6, 9-5; Cyrus Poncha and Srivatsan
Subramaniam (TN) bt Vikas Jangra and Shakti Singh (SSCB) 9-4, 9-5, 6-9,
9-7.
Women:
Women:
Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal (TN) bt Surabhi Misra (Raj) and
Shivangi Paranjpe (Mah) 11-10, 9-3, 11-10.
Semifinal:
Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal (TN) bt Jesheila Mani and V. Anvesha
Reddy (TN) 9-4, 9-4, 9-3;
Surbhi Misra and Shivangi Paranjpe (TN) bt Shibani Philip and Sonali
Philip (TN) 9-6, 9-3, 9-5.
Mixed
doubles:
Quarterfinals:
Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt V. Laxman and Harita Omprakash
(TN) 9-0, 9-5, 9-4; Gajendra Singh and Jesheila Mani (MP/TN) bt A.
Parthiban and Ritika Reddy (TN) 9-2, 9-7, 3-9, 9-7; Bala Murugan and V.
Anvesha Reddy (TN) bt Cyril Kuhn and Shibani Philip (TN) 9-5, 9-3, 2-9,
9-3; Harinder Pal Singh and Dipika Pallikal (TN) bt Sami Johnson and
Shivangi Paranjpe (TN) 9-7, 9-3, 9-5.
NATIONAL
SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIP 2003 from
26th to 30th November 2003
The Calcutta Racket Club, Kolkata
