National doubles squash c’ship: Joshna-Abhay duo claims mixed doubles title

Joshna Chinappa and Abhay Singh beat Rathika Suthanthira Seelan and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu 10-11, 11-2, 11-9 in a 45-minute final to become the mixed doubles champions of the HCL National doubles squash championship at the Indian Squash and Triathlon Academy (ISTA) here on Wednesday.

Joshna-Abhay were 3-5 down before drawing level 5-5 in the first game. For the fifth point, Abhay had slightly collided with Harinder and got warned. “No more dangerous play,” the referee instructed Abhay. From there, it was 10-all before Harinder-Rathika clinched the final point and thus the game.

But the pair followed it up with a dismal performance to go down 2-11 in the second game.

The third game was neck-and-neck, with the longest rally of the match played by Harinder-Rathika to make it 6-6. It was 7-all, 8-all, and 9-all before Joshna-Abhay claimed two consecutive points and closed out the match.

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Joshna was all praise for the 23-year-old Rathika. “She played well. She honestly surprised me today. She was very attacking and aggressive with her shots. And honestly, that’s the way you need to be when you’re playing any player. All credit to her.

“It went down the wire. It could have been anyone’s match today. We were just a little bit luckier to win that last game,” she said after the win.

Contrastingly, Rathika had it easy with her partner Pooja Arthi in the third and deciding game of the women’s doubles final. Rathika-Pooja drubbed Janet Vidhi and Nirupama Dubey 11-1 in the third game to clinch the title 11-3, 9-11, 11-1.

It was 3-all, 5-all, and 7-5 before Abhay and Velavan Senthilkumar eventually secured the second game 11-8 in the men’s doubles final. Abhay-Velavan won the match, 11-4, 11-8 versus Rahul Baitha and Suraj Chand.

The results (finals):

Men: Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar bt Rahul Baitha and Suraj Chand 11-4, 11-8.

Women: Rathika Suthanthira Seelan and Pooja Arthi bt Janet Vidhi and Nirupama Dubey 11-3, 9-11, 11-1.

Mixed: Joshna Chinappa and Abhay Singh bt Rathika Suthanthira Seelan and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu 10-11, 11-2, 11-9.