Ghosal`s Asiad bronze highlight of Indian Squash`s 2010

In a year that witnessed two sporting spectacles in the CWG and Asian Games, Indian squash had some hits as well as misses with the country`s highest-ranked player Ghosal winning the second Asiad bronze of his career.

New Delhi: In a year that witnessed two sporting spectacles in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, Indian squash had some hits as well as misses with the country`s highest-ranked player Saurav Ghosal winning the

second Asiad bronze medal of his career in Guangzhou. The 2006 Doha Asian Games bronze medallist waged a grim battle against top-seed Mohammad Azlan Iskandar of Malaysia in the semifinals of the men`s singles squash event before losing the match in four games and settling for bronze. Indian men`s and women`s teams also settled for bronze medals in the team event of the quadrennial event after losing to Pakistan and Malaysia respectively in the semifinals. The Indian men`s team comprising Ghosal, Siddharth Suchde and Harinder Pal Sandhu lost 0-2 to top-seed and arch-rivals Pakistan while the trio of Joshna Chinappa, Anaka Alankamony and Dipika Pallikal went down to fancied Malaysia with an identical scoreline in the women`s event. India could not win a medal in the women`s singles event as Chennai girls Pallikal and Chinappa fought their hearts out but eventually ran out of steam against top-ranked Malaysians in the quarterfinals to bow out of the individual competition. In the Commonwealth Games here in October, Indian racqueters once again failed to break the jinx of not having won any medal ever since the introduction of the sport in the quadrennial event in 1998. The notable omission of former India number one Ritwik Bhattacharya from the final squad made the task a lot harder for the Indian contingent in both singles and doubles event where the field comprised of England, Malaysia and Australia, considered to be traditional powerhouses in the sport. India`s hopes of winning its first medal also received a severe blow when country`s top female player Pallikal pulled out of the women`s and mixed doubles events due to mild fever which she had developed before the start of the October 3-14 event. Pallikal, world ranked 29th, was to partner her Chennai team-mate Chinappa in the women`s doubles and Ghosal in the mixed doubles event. In the singles event, the Indian challenge came to an end at the pre-quarterfinal stage after national champion Ghosal went down 1-3 to Englishman Peter Barker in the men`s event while Chinappa lost 0-3 to world number one Nicol David of Malaysia in the women`s category. Other Indian men`s players Harinder Pal Sandhu and Siddharth Suchde became the second round casualty while the women`s event saw the downfall of Anwesha Reddy, Surbhi Misra and Anaka Alankamony. In the men`s and women`s doubles events, racqueters exited by the pre-quarterfinal stage. In the PSA and WISPA tour events, Pallikal showed immense maturity and talent despite being just 19 and impressed by clinching the maiden tour title of her career in April. Pallikal, participating in the USD 8,000 WISPA Indian challenger no 5 in Kolkata, came up with a stupendous show against England`s Emma Beddoes in the summit clash to celebrate her second appearance in a WISPA tour final with a maiden win. She defeated Malaysia`s Sharon Wee, compatriot Alankamony and England`s Zephanie Curgeven en-route her title triumph. She also won the USD 10,900 Nepal Open in Kathmandu defeating Kylie Lindsay of New Zealand 3-1. In the Zack Swedish Open in Sweden, Pallikal had extended her valiant run till the semifinals of the prestigious world tour event. Pallikal also made it to the final of the USD 11,600 Saad Al Sabah International Open in Kuwait in June. In Qatar Classic last month, Pallikal managed to reach the pre-quarterfinal stage before losing to England`s Massaro in straight games. In the year ending Punj Lloyd WISPA Masters, Pallikal made it to the quarterfinal before losing 2-3 to Kasey Brown of Australia in the USD 36,500 championship. For Kolkata-born Ghosal, barring his Asiad bronze medal triumph, the year remained largely forgettable, as he failed to win even a single title at the national or international level. For Ghosal, ranked 22nd in the world, 2010 didn`t yield any good results as barring his semifinal appearances in the Chennai Open in March and PSA Indian Challenger No 7 in April in Kolkata, and quarterfinal visibility in ROWE British Grand Prix in Manchester, he failed to get past even the second round of the 12 international tournaments that he played this year. For the 24-year-old world number 36 Chinappa, the year did not pay any rich dividends as she managed to win only one international title while making semifinal appearances in three championships. Chinappa won the German Ladies Open in Saarbrucken defeating Switzerland`s Gaby Schmohi in the summit clash. She reached the semifinals of WISPA Indian Challenger No 4 in Chennai, Chairman`s Cup in Hong Kong and Heliopolis Open in Cairo. PTI