Joshna Chinappa, Abhay Singh clinch National squash titles

CHENNAI: Veteran Joshna Chinappa and Abhay Singh, both top seeds from Tamil Nadu, clinched the women’s and men’s title respectively at the 78th HCL SRFI Senior National Squash Championship here on Saturday.

While Joshna bagged a record-extending 19th National crown by defeating Delhi teenager Anahat Singh, seeded third, in straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-9) in the women’s final, Abhay got the better of statemate Velavan Senthilkumar 3-1 (11-13, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4) in the men’s summit clash for his maiden National trophy.

In the women’s title decider, which was a battle between the oldest and the youngest in the category, the 36-year-old Joshna used her experience to good effect against the 14-year-old Anahat and wrapped the match up in 25 minutes. As a result, she secured the National trophy for the fifth successive time.

In the men’s final that lasted 48 minutes, Abhay was behind at the end of the hard-fought first game, but lived up to his billing thereafter, winning the next three games comfortably.

RESULTS: Final: Men: Abhay Singh bt Velavan Senthilkumar 3-1 (11-13, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4). Women: Joshna Chinappa bt Anahat Singh 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-9)