Joshna to meet Dipika in women's final

The country's top two women players, defending champion Joshna Chinappa and second seed Dipika Pallikal Karthik, expectedly took their appointed places in the final of the 73rd Senior National Squash Championships in progress here.
The two Chennai-based squash professionals both won their semi finals in straight games at the Otters Club courts in suburban Bandra to enter tomorrow's summit clash.
While 12-time champion Joshna, the senior of the two finalists, outclassed Goa's Akansha Salunkhe, seeded 3/4, 11-6 11-2 11-4, Dipika was equally ruthless while packing off UP rival Sachika Ingale, also seeded 3/4, 11-5 11-1 11-4 in the semi finals.

Twenty-nine-years old Joshna, ranked no. 10 in the world, has been a regular in the nationals.
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Joshna moved Salunkhe around the court and dominated the contest till the end, after an indifferent start.

"Akanksha played really well and she got off to a good start. Some of her shots were very impressive," said Joshna in praise of her defeated rival.
Dipika also took complete control in the other women's semi-final against Sachika.
"I am delighted to be back for the nationals," she said after her comfortable win.
"It's good to see quite a lot of (women) players who are doing well. With Joshna and me at the top for quite some time, we hope the others take the pressure off us. We try to help them improve their games whenever we get the opportunity," she added.

The men's final would be fought by no. 4 seed and 2014 champion Harinderpal Singh Sandhu and the winner of the match between no.1 seed Saurav Ghosal, gunning for his 10th title, and his semi-final opponent and third seed Vikram Malhotra of Maharashtra.
Sandhu upset second seed Mahesh Mangaonkar of Maharashtra in a marathon five-game thriller that lasted one hour and 35 minutes.
Sandhu came back from 1-2 to put it across his higher ranked opponent 6-11 13-11 6-11 11-8 11-8.
Trailing 3-5 in the fourth, Sandhu won four points in a row to lead 7-5 before forcing the decider to keep his hopes alive in a contest marked by long rallies and powerful shots.

Mangaonkar's nerves deserted him at the crucial stage as he committed two fouls and hit the tin in between when the score was tied 8-all in the decider to hand over the match to his Chennai-based rival.
Results (semi finals):
Women: Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Akanksha Salunkhe (Goa) 11-6,11-2, 11-4; Dipika Pallikal Karthik (TN) bt Sachika Ingale (UP) 11-5,11-1,11-4.
Men: Harinderpal Singh Sandhu (TN) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (Mah) 6-11 13-11 6-11 11-8 11-8.