Indian women stun top seeds HK to reach Asian Squash final

It proved a day of mixed luck for India in the semifinals of the Asian Team Squash Championship as the women waltz past against top seeds Hong Kong while the men went down fighting to Pakistan here today.
The happy tidings came early in the day for the women with Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal showing why they are a force to reckon with in world squash. Both won and that helped India shock Hong Kong and storm into the final.
They next face Malaysia, to whom they had lost in the group stage. "It will be a revenge match. The girls are gearing up for this challenge," said national coach Cyrus Poncha.

After Sachika Ingale failed to keep her slate clean, losing to Liu Tsz Ling without much resistance, it was left to Joshna not only to shore up India's stock but inspire her colleague Dipika to touch her best. Joshna did not put a foot wrong in taming the Hong Kong number one Annie Au, who at rank 10 was three rungs above the Indian. Aggression was Joshna's ploy from start and with clever drives and drops left her rival clueless, winning in straight games.
The onus was now on Dipika but the star player, started on a diffident note against Joey Chan, who was winner when the two met last two years ago in the Asian Championship. The Indian led 10-8 in the first game but from game-ball position, lost and the inspired Hong Kong player went on to grab the next game too.

The experienced Dipika brought out her fighting side and in a jiffy changed the game's complexion by bagging the next two games with explosive drives and astute drops and boasts.

Taking the saddle she left Joey rooted to the spot in the decider to win in style and send cheers to her camp.
Alas that was not the scene in the men's section. India without a spearhead like Saurav Ghosal started on the defensive against Pakistan. Velavan Senthilkumar was the first to play against the experienced Farhan Mehboob. The youngster did well, even took a game but the Pakistani had the upperhand.

Harinder Pal Sandhu next was again outstanding and beat the higher ranked Farhan Zaman. All depended on Kush Kumar but being 2-1 in game scores and running close in the fourth game, he could not capitalise. India thus like last time, settled for the bronze.
Results (Seedings in bracket):
Men (1st round): Saurav Ghosal [1] bt Ranjit Singh 11-3 11-5 11-8; Vijay Kumar [5/8] bt Veer Chotrani 11-5 11-2 11-7; Vikram Malhotra [3/4] bt Sandeep Jangra 11-7 11-3 11-9; Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu [3/4] bt Gaurav Nandrajog 11-3 11-6 8-11 4-11 11-1; Ravi Dixit [5/8] bt Krish Kapur 12-10 11-6 11-8; Velavan Senthilkumar [5/8] bt Aryaman Adik 11-6 11-8 9-11 11-5; Mahesh Mangaonkar [2] bt Abhishek Pradhan 11-3 11-9 11-5.

Women (2nd round): Joshna Chinappa [1] bt Machuma Begam Choudhury 11-3 11-0 11-0; Ananya Dabke bt Sarah Vethekar 11-9 11-2 11-3; Jui Kalgutkar bt Manisha G 11-0 11-0 11-0; Urwashi Joshi bt Anna Avasthi 11-5 11-6 11-5; Mayuri Namasivayam bt Neha Kumari 11-1 11-1 11-0; Aishwarya Khubchandani bt Manisha Bisht 11-5 11-2 11-2; Akanksha Salunkhe [4] bt Shikha Kumari 11-0 11-3 11-0; Sachika Ingale [3] bt Henna Muzafar 11-0 11-3 11-0; Aishwarya Bhattacharya bt Sunidhi Pandey 11-2 11-2 11-1; Aryaa Ogale bt K Tamanna 11-2 11-2 11-1; Adya Advani bt Sweta Budhia 11-0 11-0 11-1; Lakshya Ragavendran bt Sunny Mehta 11-0 11-2 11-3; Anannya Morey bt Sushmita Panigrahi 11-7 11-6 11-8; Dipika Pallikal Karthik bt Nitu Sharma 11-0 11-1 11-0.