Asian Individual Squash Championship | Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa advance to final

Joshna defeated sixth seed Sivasangari Subramaniam of Malaysia 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 while Ghoal ousted the seventh seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia 11-2, 11-6, 11-4.

Joshna was the first to appear on the court and according to Coach Harinder Pal Sandhu, she could not have made a better start to a match, running away with an early lead against sixth seed Sivasangari Subramaniam of Malaysia. There was focus and determination in the Indian to start with and even though Sivasangari caught up in the second game and forced her to parity at 10 pointgs, Joshna did not lose control. The third game saw the Indian at her relentless best as she ran away with a comfortable win for a confident entry into the title round where she faces the top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong.

Ghosal, the previous edition's finalist was pitted against the 2016 world junior champion, Eain but on court, it was the Indian who held the whiphand as he showed his ability to produce accurate returns as against his opponent's repeated failures. Both enjoyed rallies and there were many played at fierce pace but Ghosal's touch was there and that ensured most of them finished in his favour. Considering the intensity of the contest it was a fine effort by Ghosal in finishing the match in 32 minutes to get ready to meet Leo Au Chun Ming, the fourth seed from Hong Kong in the final on Sunday.