Will Anahat best Joshna in the Indian Open squash final?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Indore, Nov 21 (NationPress) India's leading female squash athlete Anahat Singh is set to face off against seasoned player Joshna Chinappa in an all-Indian women's final of the Daly College SRFI Indian Open, a PSA event, taking place in Indore on Saturday.
In the semifinals held on Friday, the top seed Anahat, a Delhi teenager, narrowly defeated Irish third seed Hannah Craig with scores of 11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4. Meanwhile, the unseeded veteran Joshna made a comeback to overcome Egyptian second seed Nadien Elhammamy with a score of 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 in the other semifinal of this event, co-hosted by the Squash Racquets Federation of India (SRFI).
In the men's final, the top-seeded Youssef Soliman from Egypt triumphed over Yannick Wilhelmi from Switzerland with a score of 3-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-2), while the third seed Mohamad Zakaria defeated Yahya Elnasasany 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 15-13) in the other semifinal.
In a surprising turn, the reigning men's national champion Velavan Senthilkumar was eliminated in the quarterfinals by third seed Mohamad Zakaria, who won 11-7, 11-7, 11-6.
Anahat, a medalist in both the Asian and Commonwealth Games, alongside Joshna, a two-time gold medalist in the World Doubles Championships, advanced to the women's semifinals with dominant performances. Top seed Anahat swiftly overcame German eighth seed Katerina Tycova with scores of 11-5, 11-1, 11-4, while Joshna defeated Spanish seventh seed Sofia Mateos 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 in the quarterfinals.
In a close encounter, seventh seed Ramit Tandon lost a five-game quarterfinal to men's top seed Youssef Soliman, with the Egyptian winning 11-5, 9-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-5.
Earlier in the tournament, Anahat, Joshna, and Tanvi Khanna secured their places in the quarterfinals. Anahat effortlessly defeated Pooja Arthi Raghu 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 in the pre-quarterfinal stage. Joshna Chinappa achieved an upset against the fourth-seeded Lauren Baltayan from France, winning 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-2 after losing the first game. Tanvi Khanna prevailed over compatriot Unnati Tripathi 11-1, 11-8, 11-4 during this Professional Squash Association (PSA) bronze event, which features a $73,500 prize fund for men and $15,000 for women.