Squash Nationals: Top seeds Joshna Chinappa, Saurav Ghosal off to winning starts

Top-seed Saurav Ghosal had an easy start in the men’s singles event of the 77th Senior National Squash Championship at the ISA courts in Chennai on Wednesday, breezing past Sandeep Jangra in straight games.

Defending champion Joshna Chinappa, too, had things easy, dropping 12 points on her way to a win over Radhika Rathore of Madhya Pradesh. Ghosal (a 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 winner) had no trouble winning the first two games against Sandeep Jangra (9/16 seed).

However, in the third game, the No 1 seed faced a challenge as Jangra pushed him all the way before conceding the game 8-11. Chinappa, the 17-time national champion, proved too good for her opponent, winning 11-5, 11-3, 11-4 to advance to the last eight.

The other seeded players too had an easy day and there was no major upset. Local girl and ISA trainee Pooja Arthi stretched seeded player Sanika Choudhari of Maharashtra to five games. Except the girls u-17 category, competitions will be held in all other age sections in boys and girls.

Results:

All pre-quarterfinals: Men: Saurav Ghosal (1) (TN) beat Sandeep Jangra (9/16) SR, 11-4, 11-3, 11-8; Rutvik Rau (17/24) (Maharashtra) beat Vikas Mehra (5/8) (TN) 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8; Abhay Singh (5/8) (TN) bt Suraj Chand (Maharashtra) 11-3 11-5 11-2; Abhishek Agarwal (3/4) (Maharashtra) beat Jamal Sakib (9/16) (SR), 11-4, 11-4, 11-7.

Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (3/4) (TN) beat Ravi Dixit (9/16) (SR) 11-9, 11-1, 11-9; Yash Fadte (5/8) (Gujarat) beat Vijay Kumar (9/16) (SR) 11-8, 11-2, 11-7; Gaurav Nandrajog (5/8) (Del) beat Guhan Senthilkumar (9/16) (TN) 11-8, 12-10, 11-6; Abhishek Pradhan (2) (Maharashtra) beat Rahul Baitha (9/16) (Maharashtra) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6.

Women: Joshana Chinappa (1) (TN) beat Radhika Rathore (9/16) 11-5, 11-3, 11-4; Sachika Balvani (5/8) (Maharashtra) beat Sushmita Panigrahi (17/24) (Karnataka) 11-3, 11-4, 11-2; Sanya Vats (5/8) (Delhi) beat Abhisheka Shannon (TN) 11-9, 11 -7, 11-6.

Urwashi Joshi (3/4) (Maharashtra) beat S Akshaya Sri (TN) 11-3, 11-4, 11-6; Tanvi Khanna (3/4) (Delhi) beat Riya Sisodia (17/24) (Rajasthan) 11-9, 11-8, 11-8; Aparajitha Balamurukan (5/8) (TN) beat Shameena Riaz (TN) 11-7, 11-6, 11-2; Sanika Choudhari (5/8) (Maharashtra) beat Pooja Arthi (TN) 9-11, 11- 9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5; Sunayna Kuruvilla (2) (TN) beat Rathika Suthanthira Seelan (9/16) (TN) 11-2, 11-9, 11-3.