Saurav, Joshna retain national titles

MUMBAI: Top seeds Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa fashioned impressive wins to retain the men's and women's titles respectively in the 58th Senior National Squash Championship at the Cricket Club of India on Friday.
World number 22 Ghosal warmed up for next week's PSA Masters in New Delhi with a 10-12, 12-10, 11-4, 11-2 win over third seed Harinderpal Singh Sandhu in a championship round that lasted 55 minutes.
Sandhu snatched the opening game in a tight finish to set the stage for an intense battle against the Asian Games bronze medallist. But Ghosal took the second game in another close finish over extra points and went on to win the third for a 2-1 cushion.
Sandhu began the crucial fourth with hopes of a fightback. But a slew of unforced errors midway through the game ended his challenge as Ghosal won nine points in a row from 2-2 to earn his fifth National crown in a row and his sixth overall.
Ghosal received Rs 1,25,000 for his effort, while Sandhu received Rs 63,000.
India number one and world number 36 Joshna Chinappa of Tamil Nadu overcame second seed Saumya Karki of Maharasthra 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 for her eighth national title in a row and 10th overall.
Chinappa received Rs 40,000, while Karki received Rs 20,000.
Karki made amends by winning the girls under-17 title in the CCI-Western India Open for juniors, while Ranjit Singh of UP won the boys under-13 crown. Madhav Dhingra of Maharashtra won the under-15 title, Vrishabh Kotian of Tamil Nadu the under-17 and Ravi Dixit of Tamil Nadu the under-19 title.
Results:
(All finals): Sr. Nat: Men: 1-Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Harinderpal Singh Sandhu (TN) 10-12, 12-10, 11-4, 11-2.
Placings: Mahesh Mangaonkar (Mah) bt Vikas Jangra(SSCB) 11-5, 11-6, 11-9; Siddharth Suchde (Mah) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) 11-2, 11-3, 11-6; Sgt. Sandeep Jangra (SSCB) bt Ravi Dixit (TN) 11-7, 11-2, 5-11, 7-11, 11-6.
Women: Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt 2-Saumya Karki (Mah) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7.
Placings: Shria Khatri (Mah) bt Namrata Purohit (Mah) 11-9, 11-1, 11-8; Aishwarya Nambiar (Mah) bt Anushka Nair (Mah) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3.