Veteran Joshna and teen Anahat to vie for women’s crown
The Hindu
Top-seeded Abhay takes on Velavan in men’s finals
Standing in the way of Joshna Chinappa’s 19th title is a petite and frail-looking 14-year-old Anahat Singh.
But make no mistake, Anahat is ‘pocket dynamite’ and Joshna knows it. When the 36-year-old takes on the teenager, in the summit clash of the Senior National squash championships here on Saturday, it will be one for the ages.
Joshna breezed past Akansha Salunkhe 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 and Anahat made light work of Tanishka Jain 11-4, 11-7, 11-2 in the women’s semifinals on Friday.
In the men’s final, top-seeded Abhay Singh will take on S. Velavan (5/8 seed). Abhay dispatched old warhorse Sandeep Jangra 11-2, 11-2, 11-4, while Velavan had to be at his best to outwit Harinderpal Singh 5-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-9.
Players with similar styles, the Velavan-Harinder contest was interesting in parts. Left-handed Velavan turned out to be a tad quicker and played the key points better. Harinder, a former champion, hit an easy backhand drop straight to the ‘Tin’ in the second game at 9-9, and never recovered even as Velavan grew stronger creating wonderful angles and being more aggressive in the next two games.
Anahat said she was looking forward to playing her maiden women’s final. “Playing against Joshna, who is one of the best players in the country, is great and I am excited. I hope to do well as I have been training for the Nationals for a year,” she said.
The results (semifinals):
He has worn India’s blues, albeit in an Under-19 World Cup, with K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat as his teammates. He has proudly adorned the Lion’s Crest — the famed Mumbai cricket logo — in all three formats. He has played with Yuvraj Singh, against Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid and has the likes of Rahul and Joe Root in his illustrious list of dismissals. He is also a software developer for an IT giant, based in California. Virtually every middle-class Indian over the last three decades at some stage dreams of being either a cricketer or an IT professional. Saurabh Netravalkar has been combining two dreams, even after relocating to USA to pursue academics at the prestigious Cornell University in 2015.
Unlike most of the Olympic-bound athletes, who opt to train abroad before the big event, boxer Amit Panghal prefers training in home conditions prior to Paris 2024. A former World championships silver medallist and a World No. 1, Panghal won the 51kg quota place in the only chance he got. He wants to follow his own plans to script success in Paris.