Squash: Joshna Chinappa wins 19th national title; Abhay Singh crowned men's champion

Veteran Indian star Joshna Chinappa, on Saturday, was crowned the Women's National Squash Champion for a record 19th time in Chennai. The 36-year-old defeated the young Anahat Singh 3-0 in the final.

The 14-year-old Singh was of no match to the vastly experienced Chinappa outclassed the teenager 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 rather easily.

Chinappa, who is the highest ranked Indian woman in the world currently, had earlier defeated Akanksha Salunke 3-0 in the semifinals on Friday.

Abhay Singh crowned Men's Champion

On the other hand, Abhay Singh continued his rich run of form in the season as he defeated Velavan Senthilkumar to be crowned the men's national champion. The top seed came from a set down to take home the title.

The 24-year-old Singh lost the first set 11-13, but bounced back to win the next three sets in a row at 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 to win the title with a margin of 4-1.

"I knew I was controlling him in the first, I was 10-7 up as well at one point. My squash was better and I just had to stick to that, as the match went on my accuracy was wearing him down I felt and that's when I had to pounce on the ball and capitalise on the opportunities," Singh told The Bridge after his win.

While this was Abhay Singh's first national championship title, clinching it in front of his family made it even sweeter.

"It is a dream come true and even more special to win in Chennai in front of my family. Both Senthil and I have grown up playing here on this very court, so there was no home advantage as such," Singh said.

"But having beaten him in the Chennai Open earlier this year here was very helpful in terms of making a gameplan today," he added.