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 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 Bhuvaneswari Kumari had won for a record total.
The results: (All Final)
Men: Saurav Ghosal (TN) beat Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (TN) 8-11 4-11 11-6 11-7 11-6;
Women: Joshana Chinappa (TN) beat Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Del) 11-6 12-10 11-5 .
Professionals: Parthiban Ayyapan (TN) beat Abhishek Agarwal (Mah) 8-11 11-4 11-7 11-4;
Men: over 35: Saurabh Nayar (Chand) beat Cyrus Poncha (TN) 11-9 11-1 11-1;
(over 40) Rishad Pandole (Mah) beat Vikas Nayar (Chand) 11-8 11-8 11-6;
(Over-45): Sanjay Rajpal (Karna) beat Rohit Thawani (Mah)11-7 6-11 4-11 11-9 11-8;
(Over 50): Jaideep Grewal (Chand) beat Sriram Rao (Mah) 11-7 11-8 11-7;
(Over 55): Arun Rabindranath (Karna) beat Vaman Apte (mah) 9-11 11-6 9-11 11-4 11-9 .
Semifinals:Men’s:Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Kush Kumar 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10;Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (TN) bt Ravi Dixit (TN) 11-6, 11-4, 13-11.
Women’s:Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6;Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Del) bt Akanksha Salunkhe (Goa) 11-7, 12-10, 11-9.
Quarterfinals:Men:Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Velavan Senthilkumar (TN) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8Kush Kumar (TN) bt Sandeep Jangra (Del) 12-10, 11-5, 13-1Ravi Dixit (TN) bt Vijay Kumar (TN) 11-3, 11-6, 13-11Harinder Pal Sandhu (Pun) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) 14-12, 11-8, 14-16, 12-10.
Women:Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Anandita Gupta (MP) 11-4, 11-4, 11-2Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN) bt Urwashi Joshi (Mah) 11-9, 14-12, 11-4Akanksha Salunkhe (Goa) bt Lakshya Ragavendran (TN) 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7Harshit Kaur Jawanda (Del) bt Jannat Dulhan (Chd) 11-1, 11-4, 11-5