Asian Individual Squash Championships: Joshna reigns supreme to win women's crown

Asian Individual Squash Championships: Joshna reigns supreme to win women's crown

CHENNAI: Once a junior Asian champion, Joshna Chinappa became the first player from India to win the senior title when she beat Dipika Pallikal Karthik in an intensely(तीव्रता से) fought (लड़े) five-game
final in the 19th Asian Individual Squash Championships here on Sunday. Joshna won 13-15, 12-10, 11-13, 11-4, 11-4 in a keenly-fought 78-minute battle. Earlier in the men's final, top seed Max Lee of Hong Kong kept his tryst with glory, winning his maiden title beating India's Saurav Ghosal, the second seed 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (62 min) in a match where the Indian's enterprise was effectively shut out after a promising start. However, the women's contest had a lot of drama. Having lost to Dipika in April last year in the national championship final, Joshna kept a tight leash on her rival. Dipika too had had her moments, made the best of that but the fluency that one would associate(सहयोगी) with her came only in patches. It was Joshana who won the bigger moments.

As per the rankings, Lee at 16 had the advantage of being fourteen rungs ahead of Ghosal. But there was this little statistic of their meetings which showed Lee had won only once in their eight meetings. But that sole win was in their last and recent meeting and so to that extent, Lee seemed a player in touch. However, all that went into the background when play started with Ghosal looking to dictate terms. The swift movements, which has been Ghosal's forte, helped him take the initiative. Lee in comparison looked a man not in a hurry, rather waiting to make his intentions clear. By then Ghosal had grabbed the first game.

The trend stopped there. Lee, with a better reach and lot more consistent in his shot selection found the way to check Ghosal. The deep lobs and the backhand drops began to work for the Hong Kong player and the Indian began to feel pressure. Not just that, points kept slipping away. If anything, Lee only kept improving with every point as his lazy but effective stroke-play often presented that delicate touch for winners. Ghosal's frustration grew and all his plans went awry.