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.

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.

Jodhpur Open Squash Championship 2010, 19 – 23 April 2010

Finals:
Men: Siddharth Suchde beat Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-5,9-11,13-11,16-14
U-19: Ravi Dixit beat Vrishabh Kotian 3-0
U17: Vrishab Kotian beat Uttkrash Kumar 11-5,11-7,7-11,11-7
U-15: Manik Dutta beat Vijay Kumar 11-8,8-11,11-7,11-6
Over 35: Deepak Moolani beat Khangaram Choudary 11-6,11-8,11-3

Doubles will be our focus for CWG

Indian squash is on an all-time high with as many as eight players in the top-100 of world rankings and national coach Cyrus Poncha feels the time is right for his talented wards to push for medals in the Delhi Commonwealth Games.