City girls win Asian squash crown

CHENNAI: Indian squash players made history in Kuwait on Saturday capturing the women’s crown at the Asian Team Championships, while the men fell short by a whisker, losing in a close encounter to Pakistan in the final. But the two teams reaching the final of the championship was history in itself, with the women’s victory being the icing on the cake, as no team from the country has ever won an Asian crown, the best being a third place finish by both the men and women in 2010.
The unprecedented feat had its foundations laid right here in the city. The women’s squad of Dipika Pallikal, Joshna Chinappa, Anaka Alankamony and Aparajitha Balamurukan and the men’s team of Saurav Ghosal, Siddharth Suchde, Harinder Pal Sandhu and Mahesh Mangaonkar have done the country proud. But Chennai has a bigger reason to celebrat. Six of the eight players either hail from the city or train here. In fact, the entire women’s team is from Chennai, led by the country’s top-ranked squash player Dipika. Former India No. 1 Joshna, junior Asian champion Anaka and upcoming talent Aparajitha complete the quartet. They took baby steps in the sport at the Indian Squash Academy (ISA) here and train at the premier coaching centre when they are not globetrotting, competing in the pro tour.
They beat top seeds Hong Kong in straight matches in the final, a considerable achievement considering that their opponents were all higher ranked players. The men’s loss to Pakistan was a shock as they were the top seeds in the tournament. Both Suchde and Ghosal fought gallantly, losing to their opponents in gruelling five games. their second-place finish is no mean achievement and the lynchpins of the squad — India No. 1 Ghosal and No. 3 player Harinder honed their skills in the city, training under national coaches Cyrus Poncha and Major Maniam at the ISA, the breeding ground for champion squash players in the country. In fact, Mumbai-based Suchde and Mangaonkar also train at the ISA every now and then, with most camps being held at the state-of-the-art facility. Coach Poncha, a proud man after his wards’ victory, explained how ISA and Chennai have played a big role in changing the face of Indian squash. “I came to Chennai and joined the academy in 2001. And in 11 years, I have seen the sport of squash grow by leaps and bounds in the country,” said Poncha. “The standards of our players have gone up too. In 2001, we were ranked No 15 in the world in the junior circuit while our senior players were not even in the top-50 in the world. Now we have three top-30 senior players while our junior national team is ranked No. 4 in the world and we are Asian champs,” he added.