ToI article on Asian Games

India’s top two women squash players, world number 32 Dipika Pallikal and 33rd ranked Joshna Chinappa, have been seeded 5-8 and placed in the top half of the draw in the November 12-27 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

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.

Sky Open Squash, Cairo 15-22 May 2010

#1 Ramy Ashour bt  Saurav Ghosal 11/5 11/5 11/7 (35m) in the pre quarters. Reaching this level should help Saurav’s PSA world ranking

Saurav beats Azlan in Cairo

India’s Saurav Ghosal produced a scintillating performance against Malaysia’s Mohd. Azlan Iskandar to earn an unexpected place in the pre-quarterfinals of the Sky Open on the opening day at the Petrosport Club in Cairo.

Unseeded Ghosal, ranked 27th in the world, defeated 16th-seeded Iskandar 11-9, 4-11, 11-8, 11-2 in 52 minutes in the USD 1,50,000 PSA championship to achieve his first success in a Super Series event this year

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 Semi finals

[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [9/16] Dipika Pallikal 11/5, 11/5, 11/2 (23m)
[2] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg) bt [5/8] Joey Chan (Hkg) 11/7, 11/9, 5/11, 15/17, 11/4 (46m)

[1] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt [3/4] Saurav Ghosal 11/5, 11/6, 11/5 (44m)
[3/4] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt [5/8] Yasir Butt (Pak)

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)