Senior National Squash Championship: Joshna Chinappa wins record 17th title, Mahesh Mangaoker clinches men's crown

Pune: Joshna Chinappa won the national squash title for a record 17th time after she outplayed her Tamil Nadu rival Sunayna Kuruvilla in the final on Sunday. Chinappa, the top seed, defeated ‘giant-killer’ Kuruvilla 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5 in the summit clash of the 76th Senior National Squash Championship women’s event being played here. Chinappa set a new standard by winning the national squash title for the 17th time to the break a long-standing milestone set by Bhuvneshwari Kumari, the 16-time national champion, whose record stood for 27 years. [caption id=“attachment_4435591” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Squash players Joshna Chinappa (left) and Dipika Pallikal Karthik display their Commonwealth medals on their arrival at the Chennai airport on Monday. PTI[/caption] Bhuvneshwari Kumari of Rajasthan had won the national titles from 1977 to 1992. On Sunday, the World Number 13 Tamil Nadu player Chinappa was up against the third seed Sunayna Kuruvilla in the women’s final, which she won 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5 as she took control of the match right from the start. She comfortably led by two games before Sunayna rallied to bridge the gap by winning the third game 11-7. However, Joshna never lost her focus and went on to take the fourth 11-5 to win the title. Meanwhile, in the men’s category, top seed Mahesh Mangaonkar lived up to his billing to emerge as the winner. In the final, Mangaonkar outplayed second-seeded Abhishek Pradhan 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 in an all Maharashtra battle. Meanwhile, Vikas Jangra of Rajasthan, Amitpal Kohli of Maharashtra, Saurabh Nayar of Chandigarh, Dalip Tripathi of West Bengal, Vivan Khubchand of Delhi, Dushyant Jamwal of Delhi, Vijay Jaini of Haryana and Rajiv Reddy of Tamil Nadu emerged winners in the other age group events. Results: Women: Final: Joshana Chinappa (TN)[1] bt Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN)[3/4] 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5; Men: Final: Mahesh Mangaonkar(Mah)[1] bt Abhishek Pradhan(Mah)[2]12-10, 11-7, 11-9; Pro Coach: Final: Vikas Jangra(Raj) bt Abhinav Sinha(Mah)11-8, 11-5, 11-2.