Ritwik wins Indian challenger # 1

After losing to his national rival in two previous PSA Tour event finals on home soil in India, Ritwik Bhattacharya bravely fought back from two-games-to-one down to beat Indian compatriot Saurav Ghosal, the event favourite, to make it third time lucky in the climax of the inaugural Indian Challenger No1 an event supported by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports at the ICL Squash Academy in Chennai.

Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa retain National squash titles

Defending champion Joshna Chinappa defeated Dipika Pallikal 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 in just 23 minutes to win her eighth national title, at the Secunderabad Club

The 22-year-old reigning champion won a wonderful display of drive-ins from both flanks and complemented them with some delectable drops. Joshna said she was determined to win straight to prove a point and she had trained at the ICL Academy. “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 a jubilant 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.

Title-holder Saurav Ghosal (Tamil Nadu) warded off a spirited challenge from Siddarth Suchde (Maharashtra) before winning his fourth successive crown 11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4. It was a top-class match. Saurav came from abroad a few days before the nationals while Siddharth had trained for a month in Chennai and benefited by it. The last few games were well fought and it was the experience of Saurav that helped him prevail.  “I dedicate this win to my grandparents — Dr. S.B.N. Ghosal and Dina Ghosal,” an elated Ghosal 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 in 48 minutes to lift the title in his maiden appearance.

N. Ramachandran, President, Squash Rackets Federation of India, gave away the prizes.

Men: Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Siddarth Suchde (Maha) 11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.

Women: Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Dipika Pallikal (TN) 11-8, 11-7, 11-2.

Pro : A. Parthiban (TN) bt B. Balamurugan (TN) 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8.

56th ICL senior National squash championship: Semis

Men: Saurav Ghosal bt Harrinder Pal Singh 11-8, 11-4, 14-12; Siddharth Suchde bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4.

Pro: A. Prathiban bt Rohit More 11-2, 11-7, 11-3; B. Bala Murugan bt Dalip Tripathi 11-7, 11-8, 11-7.

Women: Joshna Chinappa bt Anaka Alankamony 11-7, 11-6, 11-5; Dipika Pallikal bt Anwesha Reddy 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.

Malaysian Open (PSA & WISPA)

Saurav came through two qualifying rounds and won his first round match in straight games against 8th seeded Eric Galvex from Mexico before losing to top seeded Wael El Hindi from Egypt in the quarterfinals 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (54m).

Ritwik & Dipika lost in the qulification round.

Saurav & Annie lift Chennai Open titles

Men’s final:
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [2] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (49min)

Women’s final:
[5] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [4] Annie Au (HKG) 9-3, 10-8, 10-8 (44min)

Saurav Ghosal claimed his 3rd PSA title defeating Ritwik Bhattacharya in four games. The match was an excellent display of rally finishing. Ritwik played a tight first game and this showed in his finishing the game in a quick 10 min 11-7. The second game set the tone for the rest of the match … unforced errors on Ritwik’s end allowed Saurav to level the match. The next couple of games saw Saurav gliding over the court and the ‘human rubber band’ was able to run down practically every ball to take control of the third game as well.

The 4th game saw Saurav with a runaway 5-1 lead, and though Ritwik played some excellent points, he wasn’t in a position to wrest the momentum away from Saurav. The match ended tamely though, with a stroke being awarded to Saurav to retain the Chennai Open crown won last year.

Dipika searching for her 1st WISPA tour title struggled at the onset with Annie’s drop – drive game. In the 2nd Dipika squandered her 8-0 lead going down to Annie 10-8. In the 3rd Annie played aggressive and ran to a 7-2 lead, Dipika fought hard and in 1 hand was serving for the game after winning 7 points to lead 8-7. In the final twist Annie won the 3rd game 10-8. A remarkable achievement however by Dipika to get to the final and Overall a great event for Indian Squash.

Dunlop British Open

Saurav Ghosal was the only Indian to make the main draw, Ritwik Bhattacharya and Joshna Chinappa lost in the qualifiers. Saurav  however lost to #8 seed Stewart Boswell in straight games.

Arjuna award winners- Squash

1961 – K.S. Jain
1969 – Anil Nayar
1980 – Raj Manchanda
1982 – Bhuvneshwari Kumari
1990 – Meherwan R. Daruvala
1997 – Misha Grewal
2007 – Saurav Ghosal

“Arjuna pleasant surprise” Saurav

The first squash player to be bestowed the Arjuna award in a decade, reigning national champion Saurav Ghosal says the honour has come as a pleasant surprise for him. The country’s numero uno squash player is now hoping that the award would give a fillip to the sport besides inspiring him to scale greater heights.
“Frankly I was not even thinking about this because not many squash players have been given the award in the past.  I knew I had been nominated by the federation but I was not expecting to win it,” Ghosal said.
“It has come as a welcome surprise for me and I’m obviously thrilled to have been given the honour. Hopefully it would inspire me for greater things,” he added. The last time a squash player was awarded the Arjuna was Misha Grewal who was the national champion from 1993 to 1996 before giving up the sport for pursuing a career as a TV presenter. Ghosal winning the Arjuna is not just a personal achievement but also a reflection of the growing recognition that squash players are no getting.
“I think the whole squash fraternity would celebrate this award because it means that our achievements are getting due recognition,” he said. The 20-year-old, who became the first Indian ever to win the British Junior Open in 2004, said he could visualise a bright future for squash in the country. “Squash players getting national honours is a very positive sign for the future. We have some very good players coming up and their morale would be boosted by such developments,” he explained.
The Kolkata-lad has a busy schedule lined up for the coming months. “I’m going to Pakistan for a tournament which starts on 18 August. Then there are a couple of events in the UK, besides a tournament in the USA. So its quite hectic for me,” he said. National coach and former Dronacharya award winner Cyrus Poncha, who has groomed Ghosal, also congratulated is prodigy. “At his age, it’s a great achievement and I’m very happy for him,” he said.

Arjuna award for Saurav Ghoshal

Sourav Ghosal will be awarded the Arjuna award by the President on August 29, which is also celebrated as the National Sports Day.

Manavjit Singh was chosen for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Other arjuna awardees include:
Jayanta Talukdar (archery), K M Beenamol (athletics), Chetan Anand (badminton), P Harikrishna (chess), Anjum Chopra (cricket), Bijender Kumar (boxing), Vijay Kumar (shooting), Navneet Gautam (kabaddi), Geeta Rani (weightlifting), Geetika Jakhar (wrestling), Subhajit Saha (table tennis), Jyoti Sunita Kullu (women’s hockey) and Rohit Bhakar (badminton-deaf and dumb)

Dronacharya Awards: R P Singh, Chandra Lal (boxing) and Koneru Ashok (chess)

Dhyan Chand Awards: Virender Singh (hockey), Shamsher Singh (kabaddi), Rajender Singh (wrestling)

Deccan Herald article on Saurav Ghosal

Saurav Ghosal’s life has turned one full circle ever since he moved out of his home town Kolkata and joined the ICL Squash Academy in Chennai.For someone who picked up a racquet at the young age of nine, success came soon. His first major title was the German Open (U-17) in May 2002 and he won the Dutch Open two months later. However, the crowning glory came in the form of the British Open (U-19) title in 2004 and he thereby became the first Indian to claim the title ever since its inception in 1980.
Last week, he added another chapter to his fledgling career by winning the National championship (in Chennai) – his third victory in four years. “Going into the final, I was under a little pressure, considering the fact that I was defending my title. But I relish such challenges. After all, there is no fun without pressure,” said Ghosal, who was in Bangalore on a private visit last week.
Coached by retired Major Maniam and Cyrus Poncha while in Chennai, he currently trains under Malcolm Willstrop in Leeds and he thanks his father Prakash, who heads the Kolkata Racquet Club for having initiated him into the game. Much later, the move from Kolkata to the ICL academy in Chennai with help from India Cements executive director N Ramachandran proved to be a boon.
Ghosal has numerous firsts to his credit, the first Indian to be ranked junior World No one, the first to bag the junior National championship three years in a row and in December 2006, he won the country the first medal in squash in the Doha Asian Games.
The 20-year-old rates his Asian Games bronze medal with high regard and has his reason too. “I am proud of the fact that I could win the country the first medal in squash. Moreover, the Doha bronze earned squash a slot in the Government’s priority list,” recalls Ghosal, who beat compatriot Ritwik Bhattacharya en route to the last four stage before losing to Malaysia’s Ong Ben Hee in the semifinal. And he thinks his rivalry with Ritwik bodes well for the game. “The first time I watched him win the junior championship in Kolkata, I was just a kid. When I went on to beat him in the final of the National championship three years ago, it was a dream come true for me. Our rivalry is good for the game. You need someone to keep yourself on the toes always. Siddarth (whom he beat in the National final last week) is also proving to be a tough competitor.”
Pointing out his premature exit from the World junior championship in 2004 as one of the major disappointments of his career, Ghosal believes the game needs to be promoted more as he thinks it’s a sure bet for an Olympic medal. “We lost out for 2012. But we should make it at least for the 2016 edition,” he said. Despite being known for his swift court movement, Ghosal believes there are certain grey areas in his game which need improvement and he believes the stint with Willstrop would be handy here. “After training under him, I have improved my angular returns and forehands. I am hitting the ball harder now,” said Ghosal, who is enjoying a much needed break before he heads back to Leeds where he is pursuing his graduation his Economics and Management.
And as the current World number 42 gears up for a gruelling season which begins with the CAS International tournament in August in Islamabad, he has his priorities right. “Three years ago, I had set a target for myself – to get into the top 10 by the time the 2010 Commonwealth Games comes. The way I have been playing recently, I think I have come a long way in realising my goal.