Saurav Ghosal defeated Abhishek Pradhan 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 in the men’s final while Joshna encountered a minor scare to outlast Tanvi Khanna 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 in the women’s summit clash.
Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa have bigger things to achieve on the pro squash tour, but their commitment to play in the SRFI-77th Senior National squash championships has been exemplary. The top-ranked Indians on the world arena and the top seeds here, the pair justified their billing to bag the men’s and women’s titles for a record 13th and 18th time respectively.
Not overawed by the occasion, the 23-year-old Tanvi showcased her repertoire in the first game rattling the champion with finely executed drops and attacking play from the backcourt. Taking an 8-2 lead, Tanvi looked like closing the game in quick time when Joshna clawed her way back to 6-8, but Tanvi raced ahead to pocket the first game.
The 33-year-old asserted her dominance from the second game. Pushing the Delhi youngster to the backcourt with neat angles, Joshna won a lot of points through some delicate drops to Tanvi’s forehand.
The third game was a breeze for Joshna. Tanvi, however, would not leave without a fight. She matched Joshna stroke for stroke from the front as well as from the backcourt in the fourth. Joshna had to produce her best to win each and every point. Trailing 3-5 in the fourth, Joshna levelled at 5-each. The moment Joshna took a 9-7 lead when Tanvi was forced to hit a forehand to the ‘tin’, it was clear who the winner would turn out to be.
Saurav, on the other hand, had no trouble in defeating Abhishek. He led comfortably in all the three games. Saurav was happy to have tried out a few patters in the event. “I wanted to try out a few things here. A lot of it was executed,” he said.
Sticking to its stand of picking only the players who took part in the Senior Nationals for the Asian Team championships, Squash Rackets Federation of India revealed on Saturday that the semifinalists of the premier domestic tournament would form the team for the Asian event to be held in Kuala Lumpur from March 25 to 29.
Abhishek Pradhan
Abhishek Pradhan became a pro last year when he was 25-years old. Busy working in the pharmaceutical company of his father, the Mumbaikar realised that he was missing squash when he took the plunge professionally in 2019. He did justice to his huge decision when he reached the final of the PSA Challenger Tour in Jaipur early this month. Ranked 170 in the world and seeded second, Abhishek played a compact game to defeat his State-mate and 19-year-old Rahul Baitha in the men’s first round (pre-quarterfinals) of the SRFI-77th Senior National squash championships at the ISA courts.
Quaterfinals
The top seeds in men and women’s sections, Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa, reached the quarterfinals with ease. While Saurav scripted a facile 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 win over Sandeep Jangra of Services, Joshna thumped Madhya Pradesh’s Radhika Rathore 11-5, 11-3, 11-4. Rahul, who took to senior pro squash only six months ago, did match Abhishek (6’ 1”) with his reach and drops. The first two games were close with Abhishek and Rahul stretching each other to the limits. At 9-9 in the first game, Rahul’s drop hit the tin and the next point, Abhishek was awarded a stroke.Similarly in the second game, the scores read 9-9. Abhishek won the next two points — one when a stroke was awarded to him and the other when Rahul’s drop hit the tin. The third game turned out to be one-sided after Abhishek took a 10-3 lead.
Early Round Results – Men: Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Sandeep Jangra (Services) 11-4, 11-3, 11-8; Rutvik Rau (Mah) bt Vikas Mehra (TN) 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8; Abhay Singh (TN) bt Suraj Chand (Mah) 11-3, 11-5, 11-2; Abhishek Agarwal (Mah) bt Jamal Sakib (Services) 11-4, 11-4, 11-7; Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (TN) bt Ravi Dixit (Services) 11-9, 11-1, 11-9; Yash Fadte (Goa) bt 9/16-Vijay Kumar (Services) 11-8, 11-2, 11-7; Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) bt Guhan Senthilkumar (TN) 11-8, 12-10, 11-6; Abhishek Pradhan (Mah) bt Rahul Baitha (Mah) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6.
Early Round Results – Women: Joshana Chinappa (TN) bt Radhika Rathore (MP) 11-5, 11-3, 11-4; Sachika Balvani (Mah) bt Sushmita Panigrahi (Kar) 11-3, 11-4, 11-2; Sanya Vats (Del) bt Abhisheka Shannon (TN) 11-9, 11-7, 11-6; Urwashi Joshi (Mah) bt S. Akshaya Sri (TN) 11-3, 11-4, 11-6; Tanvi Khanna (Del) bt Riya Sisodia (Raj) 11-9,11-8, 11-8; Aparajitha Balamurukan (TN) bt Shameena Riaz (TN) 11-7, 11-6, 11-2; Sanika Choudhari (Mah) bt R. Pooja Arthi (TN) 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5; Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN) bt Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (TN) 11-2, 11-9, 11-3.
This article was originally published in Sportstar.com