Ghosal, Joshna clinch titles with ease

Mumbai: World no 15 and men`s top seed Saurav Ghosal and women`s no. 1 seed Joshna Chinappa toyed with their respective rivals to defend their titles successfully in the 38th Bombay Gymkhana-HSBC Maharashtra State Open Senior Squash Championship here on Saturday.

Ghosal outclassed world no 80 and second seed Harinderpal Singh Sandhu in straight games 11-4 11-6 11-5 in the men`s final that lasted 40 minutes to take home the winner`s prize of Rs 1.3 lakh. World no. 26 Joshna thumped Aishwarya Bhattacharya, conqueror of second seed and last year`s runner-up Urwashi Joshi in the semis, 11-1 11-1 11-3 in a lop-sided women`s title clash that lasted just 20 minutes to win Rs 70,000. The only time the Kolkata-based Ghosal, winner of the individual as well as team bronze at the last Asian Games in Guangzhou, looked in some bother was when he trailed 2-5 in the third game. He then stepped up the pace of the rallies and won 9 points in a row, hitting a backhand winner from the fore court with his rival Harinderpal watching helplessly from the other side of the court, at match-ball to finish the job. "I played clinically and Harry must be pretty disappointed that he made quite a few errors. But it was tough for both of us at the end of a tiring season," said the 27-year-old Ghosal who created history this season at Manchester by reaching the quarter finals of the world championships. Ghosal said he and Harinderpal will take some rest before resuming his stint in the world pro circuit by taking part in the USD 115,000 tournament of champions, featuring the top 24 players, at New York starting January 17. "Harry has nothing scheduled till February and he too has time to train without concentrating on playing any tournament," the triumphant player said. Joshna said she was keen to play in the tournament as it was through such tournaments in her formative years that she grew up in the sport. "These events also help me to keep fit and improve my ranking when the new season starts," she said. Professionals (final): Rohit Kadam bt Sanjay Pawar 11-6 11-8 11-8.