National Squash championship | Saurav Ghosal and Joshna enter final

Pradhan prevails over Sandhu; Tanvi gets past Sunayna

Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa continue to dazzle.

Reaffirming the dominance in the SRFI-77th Senior National squash championships, the top seeds in mens’ and womens’ sections reached the summit clash in pursuit of their 13th and 19th overall titles respectively.

Saurav showed the 21-year-old Abhay Singh that he has got a lot to learn with a 11-9, 11-1, 11-8 victory, while Joshna outclassed Maharashtra’s Sanya Vats, the 18-year-old, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 in the semifinals on Friday.

While all this was expected, it was the other last-four clashes that caught the attention.

Abhishek Pradhan, the second seed, played out of his skin to defeat Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, a former champion in a five-game thriller 11-6, 12-10, 10-12, 9-11, 11-7.

High-intensity clash

A high-intensity clash ensured between Tanvi Khanna and Sunayna Kuruvilla, with the former emerging triumphant 11-6, 3-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10.

Harinder showed his trademark fighting abilities to come back from being two games down.

The decider saw Abhishek take an 8-4 and 9-6 leads with a fine backhand drop from the backcourt. The 26-year-old held his own to finish the match with a forehand winner.

“He [Harinder] is my mentor and a very good friend. We were together at Indian Squash Academy for five years. To beat him was a great moment,” said Abhishek.

The much-anticipated clash between Tanvi and Sunayna was evenly matched. Tanvi’s patience and deception prevailed over Sunayna’s aggression and sharp and quick movements.

The decider and fifth game saw Tanvi take a 8-6 lead only to see Sunayna equalise at 8-each. Sunayna had a match point at 10-9, but she committed a backhand error. Tanvi then took the next two points to win the gruelling contest and set up a clash with Joshna.

The results (semifinals):

Men: Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Abhay Singh (TN) 11-9, 11-1, 11-8; Abhishek Pradhan (Mah) bt Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (TN) 11-6, 12-10, 10-12, 9-11, 11-7.

Women: Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Sanya Vats (Mah) 11-9, 11-7, 11-4; Tanvi Khanna (Del) bt Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN) 11-6, 3-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10.