Ghosal Secures Tenth Indian National Championships Crown

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Saurav Ghosal stormed back from a 2-0 deficit to lift the Men’s Indian National Championship title for a tenth time at the expense of last year’s victor Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu on Sunday July 12.

The Indian No.1 had already overcame a difficult semi-final fixture with the tenacious Kush Kumar while Sandhu had steered to a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Ravi Dixit in his tie.

Sandhu took advantage of Ghosal’s tired legs with some superb squash, running his opponent ragged to build up a two-game lead.

Ghosal, who had racked up eight consecutive Indian National titles before last year’s defeat to Sandhu, changed his game considerably, eschewing his penchant for playing in the back of the court and instead deployed a shorter game to throw his opponent out of his rhythm.

The tactical switch worked and Ghosal fought back to level things up as the match headed into a fifth and final game which the World No.21 took to capture an 8-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 victory.

“I’ve been working hard at that area [his short game] for the past few months but I’m still not really satisfied with the results,” the Kolkata-born victor told the Indian Express.

“Today, somehow, it clicked. This was the toughest national final I have ever played in.”

Meanwhile, Joshana Chinappa lifted her 14th Women’s Indian National Championship crown as she stormed to victory against Harshit Jawanda in the final, failing to drop a single game throughout the tournament.

Results – Men’s Indian National Championship 2015

First Round
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [Q] Ashish Keskar (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-6, 11-2
[5/8] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt Vikas Jangra (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 13-11, 11-8
[5/8] Sandeep Jangra (IND) bt Guhan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-9
[3/4] Kush Kumar (IND) bt [Q] Maninder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-5
[3/4] Ravi Dixit (IND) bt [Q] Rishi Jalan (IND) 3-1: 7-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-4
[5/8] Vijay Kumar (IND) bt Abhinav Sinha (IND) 3-1: 11-8, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9
[5/8] Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) bt Ranvijay Singh (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 11-4
[2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu bt (IND) [Q] Naveen Jangra (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-2

Quarter-Final
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [5/8] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-8
[3/4] Kush Kumar (IND) bt [5/8] Sandeep Jangra (IND) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 13-11
[3/4] Ravi Dixit (IND) bt [5/8] Vijay Kumar (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 13-11
[2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt [5/8] Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) 3-1: 14-12, 11-8, 14-16, 12-10

Semi-Final
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [3/4] Kush Kumar (IND) 3-1: 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10 (63m)
[2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) bt [3/4] Ravi Dixit (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 13-11 (37m)

Final
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) 3-2: 8-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (82m)

Results – Women’s Indian National Championship 2015

First Round
[1] Joshana Chinappa (IND) bt Neeraja B (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-2
[5/8] Anandita Gupta (IND) bt Bhadra Asha (IND) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-2
[5/8] Sunayna Kuruvilla(IND) bt Arunima A.G (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-2, 11-4
[3/4] Urwashi Joshi (IND) bt Pavitra Rachel Verghese (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-0, 11-3
[3/4] Lakshya Ragavendran (IND) bt Soni Kumari (IND) 3-0: 11-0, 11-1, 11-0
[5/8] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) bt Kadambari Subrahmonya Sarma (IND) 3-0: 11-0, 11-1, 11-0
[5/8] Jannat Duhan (IND) bt Urfia Gul (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-0, 11-0
[2] Harshit Jawanda (IND) bt Sunny Mehta (IND) 3-0: 11-0, 11-0, 11-1

Quarter-Final
[1] Joshana Chinappa (IND) bt [5/8] Anandita Gupta (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-2
[5/8] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) bt [3/4] Urwashi Joshi (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 14-12, 11-4
[5/8] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) bt [3/4] Lakshya Ragavendran (IND) 3-1: 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7
[2] Harshit Jawanda (IND) bt [5/8] Jannat Duhan (IND) 3-0: 11-1, 11-4, 11-5

Semi-Final
[1] Joshana Chinappa (IND) bt [5/8] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (23m)
[2] Harshit Jawanda (IND) bt [5/8] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-9 (27m)

Final
[1] Joshana Chinappa (IND) bt [2] Harshit Jawanda (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 (25m)