Date:06/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/06/stories/2006090609532000.htm

Sport - Squash

Tamil Nadu wins team championship

Principal Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu won the National team title beating Services 2-0 in the final of the 2006 inter-State squash championship at the Delhi Gymkhana Club here on Tuesday.

Playing its fourth final in as many years, Tamil Nadu avoided the mistakes of 2005 when it lost to Maharashtra, by going on the offensive from the start. Harinder Pal Singh wasted little time in beating Vikas Jangra though he was made to rally in the opening and the third game. After winning the first two games 9-2, 9-0, Harinder was forced on the backfoot as Jangra took a 5-0 lead and then led 8-5, but the Tamil Nadu player rallied brilliantly to win the match.

Parth Sharma dominated from the start and closed the match in 35 minutes to give Tamil Nadu a deserving title in the championship held under the aegis of the Squash Rackets Federation of India.

Former champion New Delhi salvaged some pride by winning the bronze medal. Playing without its top three players, New Delhi struggled against giant-killer Rajasthan before scoring a 2-1 win in just under two hours.

Sohail Kapur gave the host a 1-0 lead when he defeated Gautam Sharma 9-6, 9-7, 7-9, 9-2. But Gunraj Singh brought Rajasthan back into contention by beating Amandeep Singh in straight games. The Delhi coach, Muktiar Ali, took to the court in absence of his injured ranked players and outlasted Kapil Murjani, giving away just one point.

The action now moves on to the 54th National championship, which will start here on Wednesday. Defending champions in both men's and women's sections, Ritwik Bhattacharya and Joshana Chinappa, lead the seedings in the Rs. 2.5 lakh championship.

Besides the world ranked 41 Bhattacharya, Saurav Ghosal, who is ranked 50 in the world, will be in action in a full field of 128 players. The two have played in the last three National finals - Bhattacharya winning in 2003 and 2005 and Ghosal in 2004.

To defend his title, Bhattacharya has decided to give a miss to the British Open championship, in which he was scheduled to play the qualifying. "I am playing the Nationals despite a busy schedule on the pro Tour as I always consider it to be very prestigious," said Bhattacharya.

"My aim is to break into top 30 in the world by the end of this year. I hope to achieve that through tournaments in Pakistan, Hong Kong and Qatar," Bhattacharya added.

The India No. 1 player was, however, disappointed over the total prize money at stake at the Nationals. "The winner should at least get Rs. 50,000," Bhattacharya said of the Rs. 40,000 earmarked for the champion. "If I have to miss a pro Tour event which carried good ranking points then there should be something more in return," he added.

In the women's section, the 20-year-old Joshana will start as clear favourite. With five national titles in her bag, challenge for Joshana will come from Anwesha Reddy, Deepika Pallikal and the seasoned Mekhala Subedar.

The results:

Final: Tamil Nadu bt Services 2-0 (Harinder Pal Singh bt Vikas Jangra 9-2, 9-0, 10-8, Parth Sharma bt Shakti Singh 9-1, 9-3, 9-4).

Third place: New Delhi bt Rajasthan 2-1 (Sohail Kapur bt Gautam Sharma 9-6, 9-7, 7-9, 9-2, Amandeep Singh lost to Gunraj Singh 6-9, 2-9, 8-10, Muktiar Ali bt Kapil Murjani 9-1, 9-0, 9-0).