Top seeds Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa off to breezy starts in National Squash Championships

Chennai: Top-seed Saurav Ghosal had an easy start in the men’s singles event of the 77th Senior National Squash Championship at the ISA 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. [caption id=“attachment_8035281” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Joshna Chinappa. Image credit: Twitter/@ElGounaSquash[/caption] Ghosal (a 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 winner) had no trouble winning the first two games against 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. Joshna, the 17-time national champion, proved too good for her rival, 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. Meanwhile in keeping with the SRFI’s motto of encouraging young talent, the ISA circuit I junior open will get underway alongside the nationals from Thursday. 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.