All good things must come to an end and it was indeed a spectacular closing ceremony with India becoming the overall champions. Paving the way was the Indian girls squash team that won the crown in squash events, which was held at the Gymkhana Club squash complex from19-26 August 2006.
In the women’s final, two Indian teenagers, Joshna Chinappa was the gold medallist and Dipika Pallikal won the silver medal. The two top-seeded Indians had overcome their anticipated opponents, Tehani Guruge and Nirasha Guruge, the expertise from Sri Lanka in the previous round in individual events.
Despite the two cousins being tipped for gold by local authorities the competition proved to be too much for them. Squash as a whole has not garnered much attention at SAG due to the lack of gold medals and this turn of events will probably see the sport remaining in the shadows for the foreseeable future.
Joshna Chinappa was the most experienced player from India thanks to her wins at the previous SA Games, which were held in Pakistan. Holding on to a position among the top fifty in world rankings she was a threat that no one had an answer for, cementing her dominance with expected skill. Joshna’s talent expands to other racquet sports like badminton and apparently still tries her hand at it sometimes. Squash was introduced t
o her by her father, a former squash player himself it was the winning that finally made her hang up her badminton racquet and concentrate on squash on a professional level.
“I only took up squash because it seemed like a fun sport. But after I started winning I decided to take is seriously,” Joshna Chinappa admitted. Apparently those genes are too strong to ignore and success is the greatest motivator. Winning the gold medal at SAG will undoubtedly give her a launch pad to go higher at international meets in the next few years.
The victorious Pakistani squash team. (L-R) Majid Khan , Amir Khan, Yasir Ali Butt,
Coach Fahim Gull, Manager Iyaz Khan, Mansoor Zaman, Carla Khan. (Front row)
Misbah Rani, Muqadda Ashraf, and Maria Wazir. Pic by Aamna Mahboob.
However, the Sri Lankan lass Nirasha Guruge (16) who won the bronze medal looked at the scenario in a positive light as an impetus to improve her game for the Asian Games which are to kick off in Doha, Qatar in December 2006. She was the winner of the plate event in the Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne 2006. She is also the current national champion and the winner of Penang junior open in Malaysia 2006.
Meanwhile in the men’s event, left-hander Mansoor Zaman, a talented player from Pakistan, had to face 16-year-old compatriot Aamir Atlas Khan in the final after both players beat India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu and Gaurav Nandrajog, respectively in the semi-finals.
Second seed Khan shocked his more experienced top-seeded opponent by taking a 2/1 lead in the final but Zaman regained his composure to win 9-5, 7-9, 4-9, 9-2, 9-0 and retain the title he won two years ago in Islamabad. Repeating the feat would have been the only goal that he would have set himself given that Zaman was the danger man for everyone else.
Amir who played for the first time in the SA Games fought tooth and nail to clamber into the final. Given that he is the Asian Junior Champion 2005 and the World Junior Championship runner-up this was not an eyebrow raising event. Given the amount of talent in the team an all Pakistani final was on cards right from the beginning. “Squash is my family game. My brothers and cousins also play squash. My younger brother won the British Junior Championship in his age group,” Amir noted. For several members of this team the family influence runs as strong as blood.
Amir is another protégé from Peshwar, which is famed for its excellent squash players and indeed the best training in Pakistan can be found there. For Amir, the path to success was formed by the coaching expertise that he got from his home province.
Both Joshana Chinappa and Dipika Pallika monopolized the court to beat Sri Lanka in the final and win the gold medal. Sri Lanka got the predicted silver medal, but being within such close reach of the gold was disappointing. While in the men’s team Pakistan made their motherland proud by beating India in the final adding another gold medal to their heap.
In the team event, the Sri Lankan girls got the chance to get the silver medal for their country.
Coach Jemshid Gull seemed satisfied, since as he said, “we were hoping to win silver in the girl’s team event.” Literally the only silver lining for the Lankan squash team.
“Our boys played very well and I am satisfied with their result because they have not had much experience as the Pakistanis and Indians,” noted Jemshid Gull a Pakistani himself who had come to coach the Sri Lankan team for the SA Games.
In the first women’s team match between India and Pakistan, India beat Pakistan 3-0. Top seed players from both countries Joshna Chinappa and Carla Khan who ranks 28 in the world. Due to a back injury Chinappa was substituted for Khan with positive results.
Pallikal, who is also a first timer at SAG like Amir, played against Nirasha three times during the face off. Pallikal lost to Nirasha once but managed to claimed victory over her twice.
When they met for a third time it was guaranteed to be an exciting match because if Nirasha won then they had a chance of getting the gold medal but Pallikal saved the day to obtain a straight victory for India.
“I was excited about the match. I was scared of the nerves but played well because I want to do my country proud,” said Pallikal.
Another Sri Lankan player Tehani Guruge, was matched with Chinappa in a team event and during the match an accident caused Tehani to receive a head injury.
“I felt very sorry for Tehani and fortunately I played the ball slowly, otherwise it may have been very serious,” Chinappa said. Since building ties between South Asian countries is the point of the Games her concern for Tehani is touching to all
In the women’s final, two Indian teenagers, Joshna Chinappa was the gold medallist and Dipika Pallikal won the silver medal. The two top-seeded Indians had overcome their anticipated opponents, Tehani Guruge and Nirasha Guruge, the expertise from Sri Lanka in the previous round in individual events.
Despite the two cousins being tipped for gold by local authorities the competition proved to be too much for them. Squash as a whole has not garnered much attention at SAG due to the lack of gold medals and this turn of events will probably see the sport remaining in the shadows for the foreseeable future.
Joshna Chinappa was the most experienced player from India thanks to her wins at the previous SA Games, which were held in Pakistan. Holding on to a position among the top fifty in world rankings she was a threat that no one had an answer for, cementing her dominance with expected skill. Joshna’s talent expands to other racquet sports like badminton and apparently still tries her hand at it sometimes. Squash was introduced t
o her by her father, a former squash player himself it was the winning that finally made her hang up her badminton racquet and concentrate on squash on a professional level.“I only took up squash because it seemed like a fun sport. But after I started winning I decided to take is seriously,” Joshna Chinappa admitted. Apparently those genes are too strong to ignore and success is the greatest motivator. Winning the gold medal at SAG will undoubtedly give her a launch pad to go higher at international meets in the next few years.
The victorious Pakistani squash team. (L-R) Majid Khan , Amir Khan, Yasir Ali Butt,
Coach Fahim Gull, Manager Iyaz Khan, Mansoor Zaman, Carla Khan. (Front row)
Misbah Rani, Muqadda Ashraf, and Maria Wazir. Pic by Aamna Mahboob.
However, the Sri Lankan lass Nirasha Guruge (16) who won the bronze medal looked at the scenario in a positive light as an impetus to improve her game for the Asian Games which are to kick off in Doha, Qatar in December 2006. She was the winner of the plate event in the Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne 2006. She is also the current national champion and the winner of Penang junior open in Malaysia 2006.
Meanwhile in the men’s event, left-hander Mansoor Zaman, a talented player from Pakistan, had to face 16-year-old compatriot Aamir Atlas Khan in the final after both players beat India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu and Gaurav Nandrajog, respectively in the semi-finals.
Second seed Khan shocked his more experienced top-seeded opponent by taking a 2/1 lead in the final but Zaman regained his composure to win 9-5, 7-9, 4-9, 9-2, 9-0 and retain the title he won two years ago in Islamabad. Repeating the feat would have been the only goal that he would have set himself given that Zaman was the danger man for everyone else.
Amir who played for the first time in the SA Games fought tooth and nail to clamber into the final. Given that he is the Asian Junior Champion 2005 and the World Junior Championship runner-up this was not an eyebrow raising event. Given the amount of talent in the team an all Pakistani final was on cards right from the beginning. “Squash is my family game. My brothers and cousins also play squash. My younger brother won the British Junior Championship in his age group,” Amir noted. For several members of this team the family influence runs as strong as blood.
Amir is another protégé from Peshwar, which is famed for its excellent squash players and indeed the best training in Pakistan can be found there. For Amir, the path to success was formed by the coaching expertise that he got from his home province.
Both Joshana Chinappa and Dipika Pallika monopolized the court to beat Sri Lanka in the final and win the gold medal. Sri Lanka got the predicted silver medal, but being within such close reach of the gold was disappointing. While in the men’s team Pakistan made their motherland proud by beating India in the final adding another gold medal to their heap.
In the team event, the Sri Lankan girls got the chance to get the silver medal for their country.
Coach Jemshid Gull seemed satisfied, since as he said, “we were hoping to win silver in the girl’s team event.” Literally the only silver lining for the Lankan squash team.
“Our boys played very well and I am satisfied with their result because they have not had much experience as the Pakistanis and Indians,” noted Jemshid Gull a Pakistani himself who had come to coach the Sri Lankan team for the SA Games.
In the first women’s team match between India and Pakistan, India beat Pakistan 3-0. Top seed players from both countries Joshna Chinappa and Carla Khan who ranks 28 in the world. Due to a back injury Chinappa was substituted for Khan with positive results.
Pallikal, who is also a first timer at SAG like Amir, played against Nirasha three times during the face off. Pallikal lost to Nirasha once but managed to claimed victory over her twice.
When they met for a third time it was guaranteed to be an exciting match because if Nirasha won then they had a chance of getting the gold medal but Pallikal saved the day to obtain a straight victory for India.
“I was excited about the match. I was scared of the nerves but played well because I want to do my country proud,” said Pallikal.
Another Sri Lankan player Tehani Guruge, was matched with Chinappa in a team event and during the match an accident caused Tehani to receive a head injury.
“I felt very sorry for Tehani and fortunately I played the ball slowly, otherwise it may have been very serious,” Chinappa said. Since building ties between South Asian countries is the point of the Games her concern for Tehani is touching to all
Comments