Will Anahat best Joshna in the Indian Open squash final?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Anahat Singh vs. Joshna Chinappa in the final.
- Event hosted in Indore.
- Women's prize fund is $15,000.
- Anahat and Joshna are accomplished squash players.
- The match is set for Saturday.
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.