New Delhi: Little-known Akanksha Salunkhe of Goa stunned the double World Championships gold medallist Joshna Chinappa en route to making the women’s final of the 81st Squash Nationals, here on Wednesday.
With this massive win, Akanksha also secured her place in the Indian team for the 2025 Squash World Cup in Chennai in December along with Abhay Singh, Velavan Senthilkumar, and Anahat Singh.
Goa’s Akanksha, who has reached a career high ranking of 62 in February, upstaged the 38-year Joshna, who is considered one of India’s finest in this sport, 11-5, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10 across four games of an enthralling semifinal at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
Joshna, who was awarded the country’s fourth-highest civilian honour — the Padma Shri — in 2024, remains the youngest Indian women’s national champion and has won the title for a record 18 times.
Akanksha, 26, will take on Delhi’s teen sensation Anahat, who rallied to beat state-mate Tanvi Khanna 3-11, 11-5, 11-0, 11-9, in the title clash.
In the men’s competition, Tamil Nadu’s Abhay and Velavan set up a summit showdown after winning their semifinal matches against West Bengal’s Ramit Tandon and Maharashtra’s Veer Chotrani respectively.
Facing each other in the nationals for the first time, Ramit struck first, taking the opening game 13-11, but Abhay roared back with superior control and precision to seal the match 11-13, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 in 52 minutes.
This will be the fourth time Abhay and Velavan will lock horns in the final of squash nationals.
In the ProCoach semifinals, Matthew Godwin of Tamil Nadu held his nerve in key moments to edge out Maharashtra’s Raja Yadav 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, while Uttar Pradesh’s Atul Kumar Yadav outlasted Mohit Bhatt of Maharashtra 11-9, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6.
