XIX Commonwealth Games (Singles), Delhi 4-8 October ‘10

With 9 of the top 20 players in the PSA & WISPA world rankings, Saurav & Joshana lived up to their seeding bowing out to higher ranked Peter Barker and Nicol David resp.

Saurav highest Indian Ever; Eight Indians ranked top 100

The top ranked Indians are:

PSA: Saurav Ghosal – 26; Siddharth Suchde – 81; Harinder Pal Sandhu – 94; Ritwik Bhattacharya – 139; Gaurav Nandrajog – 175; Naresh Kumar – 184; Ravi Dixit – 207; Ramit Tandon – 218; Abhishek Pradhan – 315; Sandeep Jangra – 342; Karan Malik – 354; Aditya Jagtap – 417; Vikas Jangra – 417.

WISPA: Joshna Chinppa – 28; Dipika  Pallikal – 40; Anaka Alankamony – 59; Aparajitha Balamurugan – 80; Anwesha Reddy – 88; Surbhi Misra – 104; Ankita Sharma – 169.

Indian men surprise but go down to Malaysia

Indians put up a brave fight against the Malaysians. India lost the first singles when Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu lost to Mohd Nafizwan Adnan 10-12, 9-11, 11-13, but Ghosal came up with a brilliant performance to tame No ranked Modh Azlan Iskander 2-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-4. With the teams tied, the pressure was on Siddharth Suchde who faced Malaysia No.2 Ong Ben Hee. The match lasted all of 75 minutes at the end of which Hee came through 11-6, 8-11, 14-12, 4-11, 11-2.

Malaysia play Pakistan in the final, who beat Kuwait 2-0.

India enter Asian Squash Team Semis

Indian men and women entered the semi finals at the Asian Championship, Chennai. World number 31, Joshna Chinappa beat higher seeded Rebeca Chiu of Hong Kong 3-1 to help India top Group-B with a clean slate and set up a clash against Korea in the semifinal of the team events of the Asian Squash Championships. Chinappa thus avenged her loss to Chiu loss in the individual event a few days ago, winning 11-4, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7 in 25 minutes

Asian squash teams

India booked a semi-final berth in the women’s team events by winning both their matches in the Asian squash championship. Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal and Anaka Alankamony, defeated Sri Lanka and Japan in Group B quite comfortably to advance to the semi-finals. Also progressing to the semis from Group B were Hong Kong who too won both their matches and face India to decide for the positions. Indian men’s team, comprising Saurav Ghosal, Harinderpal Singh Sandhu and Ritwik Bhattacharya, brushed aside Japan 3-0 in the men’s section and face China tomorrow.

Asian Seniors Quarter finals

Saurav and Dipika move into the semis.

Nicol David (MAS)[1] bt Song Sun Mi (KOR)[9/16] 11-4 11-7 11-7 (24m)
Dipika Pallikal (IND)[9/16] bt Misaki Kobayashi (JPN)[9/16] 12-10 11-8 11-6 (32m)
Rebecca Chiu (HKG)[2] bt Joshna Chinappa (IND)[5/8] 11-5 11-13 11-7 11-6 (39m)
Joey Chan (HKG)[5/8] bt Delia Arnold (MAS)[3/4] 11-4 11-4 11-6 (28m)

Azlan Iskandar (MAS)[1] bt Abdulla Almezayen (KUW)[9/16] 13-11 11-7 12-10 (50m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND)[3/4] bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK)[5/8]  11-7,11-1,11-6 (35m)
Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK)[3/4] bt Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)[5/8] 12-10 11-8 11-5 (35m)
Yasir Ali Butt (PAK)[5/8] bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS)[2] 10-12 11-8 11-8 11-9 (60m)

Asian seniors Day 2 men

Men’s Last 16:
Ong Beng Hee (MAS)[2] bt Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND)[9/16] 11-7 11-8 11-6 (32m)
Yasir Ali Butt (PAK)[5/8] bt Harinderpal Singh (IND)[9/16] 8-11 11-7 11-6 11-7 (38m)
Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)[5/8] bt Siddharth Suchde (IND)[9/16] 11-13 11-13 13-11 11-8 11-8 (106m)
Farhan Mehboob (PAK)[5/8] bt Ivan Yuen (MAS)[9/16] 9-11 11-6 11-8 11-8 (56m)
Abdulla Almezayen (KUW)[9/16] bt Max Lee (HKG)[5/8] 11-7 11-6 11-4 (27m)
Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK)[3/4] bt Dick Lau (HKG)[9/16] 11-5 11-6 12-10 (35m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND)[3/4] bt Waqar Mehboob (PAK)[9/16] 11-9 11-5 11-5 (36m)
M. Azlan Iskandar (MAS)[1] bt Anson Kwong (HKG)[9/16] 11-2 11-4 11-2 (25m)

Asian Senior Squash, Chennai Day 1

Malaysians Nicol David and Mohd. Azlan advanced a step closer to defending their titles at the Asian Senior Squash Championships with easy wins. The showstopper of the day was the pre-quarterfinal contest between Dipika Pallikal and Low Wee Wern wherein the local favourite came back from the dead to register a victory in five games over 65 minutes.

Dipika lost the first game 10-12 and trailed 4-9 in the second before she put a lid on her cack-handed ways. Drop-shots abounded from her racket thereafter and although Wern snatched the fourth game to tie the match, Dipika stepped on it after being locked at 8-8, taking the decider 11-8.

Saurav moves to No 27

Saurav moved up in the PSA world rankings to no 27. April PSA rankings are:
27 Saurav Ghosal
80 Siddharth Suchde
90 Harinder Pal Sandhu
113 Ritwik Bhattacharya
174 Gaurav Nandrajog
184 Naresh Kumar
201 Ravi Dixit
210 Ramit Tandon
307 Abhishek Pradhan
345 Karan Malik

Asian Championships start today

The defending champion in both the men’s and women’s categories, Malaysia has received the top billing in the team event, while India is seeded third. The host will be served by Sourav Ghosal, Siddharth Suchde. Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu and Ritwik Bhattacharaya in the men’s event and by Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Anaka Alankamony and Surbhi Misra in the women’s section.