Sr National Squash: Chinappa emerges champion for record 17th

Joshna Chinappa won the national squash title for the record 17th time after she outplayed her Tamil Nadu rival Sunayna Kuruvilla in the final on Sunday.

Chinappa, the top seed, defeated 'giant-killer' Kuruvilla 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5 in the summit clash of the 76th Senior National Squash Championship being played here.

Chinappa set a new standard by winning national squash title for the 17th time to break long-standing milestone set by Bhuvneshwari Kumari, the 16-time national champion, whose record stood for 27 years.

Bhuvneshwari Kumari of Rajasthan had won the national titles from 1977 to 1992.

On Sunday, the World No 13 Tamil Nadu player Chinappa was up against the No 3 seed Sunayna Kuruvilla in the women's final, which she won 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5 as she took control of the match right from the start.

She comfortably led 2-0 before Sunayna rallied to bridge the gap by winning the third game 11-7, but Joshna never lost her focus and went on to take the fourth 11-5 to win the title for record time.

Meanwhile, top seed Mahesh Mangaonkar lived up to his billing to emerge champion in men's category.

In the men's final, Mangaonkar outplayed second seeded Abhishek Pradhan 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 in an all Maharashtra battle.

Meanwhile, Vikas Jangra of Rajasthan, Amitpal Kohli of Maharashtra, Saurabh Nayar of Chandigarh, Dalip Tripathi of WestBengal, Vivan Khubchand, Dushyant Jamwal of Delhi, Vijay Jaini of Haryana and Rajiv Reddy of Tamil Nadu emerged winners in other age group events.

Results: Womens: Final Round: Joshana Chinappa (TN)[1] bt Sunayna Kuruvilla (TN)[3/4] 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5; Mens: Final Round: Mahesh Mangaonkar(Mah)[1] bt Abhishek Pradhan (Mah)[2]12-10, 11-7, 11-9; Pro Coach: Final Round: Vikas Jangra(Raj) bt Abhinav Sinha(Mah)11-8, 11-5, 11-2.