‘Old war horses’, Pallikal, Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa, kept the tri-colour fluttering in the international squash arena even as a new pedigree of players too complemented the efforts of their senior pros with some inspiring performances on the PSA and WISPA Tour events.However, the squash fraternity was left heart-broken by the IOC’s decision to choose wrestling ahead of squash as an additional sport to join the 2020 Olympic programme.
Wrestling, one of the rare sports which progressed from ancient to modern Olympics, won the voting at the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires with 49 of the 95 votes cast. The joint bid of baseball/softball was second with 24 votes and squash received 22. This was the third consecutive bid by squash to join the Games and journey to get here had been a long one, 10 years in fact, having failed to get the required two-thirds majority in 2005 in Singapore and 2009 in Denmark.
The Indian players, however, put behind that disappointment and continued to make their presence felt world over. Pallikal clinched the prestigious Macau Open title, her seventh WSA title, in October after notching up a stunning victory against former world number one Rachael Grinham of Australia. Pallikal also helped the women’s team script history in Kuwait by guiding them to their maiden Asian Tour title in May. In the final of the 16th Asian Team Championship, the experienced duo of Pallikal and Chinappa put paid to the hopes of Hong Kong, blanking them 2-0. The men’s team, however, went down 0-2 against arch-foes Pakistan in the summit clash. Leading the pack in the men’s section is India number one Saurav Ghosal, who added another feather to his cap by becoming the new ‘Windy City Open Squash 2012’ champion in Chicago. Ghosal also created history by becoming the first Indian male player to reach the quarterfinal of the world championship in Manchester where he suffered a straight-game defeat against world number one Ramy Ashour. The Leeds-based Ghosal also reached the semi-finals of the Montreal Open squash tournament while he also helped the Indian contingent finish seventh in the World Team Squash Championship in France.
Joshna claimed her maiden WISPA title at home, and sixth overall, when she rallied to beat Sarah Jane Perry 3-1 in the final of Chennai Open. She also successfully defended her singles title in the women’s section in the 61st national championship.
Wrestling, one of the rare sports which progressed from ancient to modern Olympics, won the voting at the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires with 49 of the 95 votes cast. The joint bid of baseball/softball was second with 24 votes and squash received 22. This was the third consecutive bid by squash to join the Games and journey to get here had been a long one, 10 years in fact, having failed to get the required two-thirds majority in 2005 in Singapore and 2009 in Denmark.
The Indian players, however, put behind that disappointment and continued to make their presence felt world over. Pallikal clinched the prestigious Macau Open title, her seventh WSA title, in October after notching up a stunning victory against former world number one Rachael Grinham of Australia. Pallikal also helped the women’s team script history in Kuwait by guiding them to their maiden Asian Tour title in May. In the final of the 16th Asian Team Championship, the experienced duo of Pallikal and Chinappa put paid to the hopes of Hong Kong, blanking them 2-0. The men’s team, however, went down 0-2 against arch-foes Pakistan in the summit clash. Leading the pack in the men’s section is India number one Saurav Ghosal, who added another feather to his cap by becoming the new ‘Windy City Open Squash 2012’ champion in Chicago. Ghosal also created history by becoming the first Indian male player to reach the quarterfinal of the world championship in Manchester where he suffered a straight-game defeat against world number one Ramy Ashour. The Leeds-based Ghosal also reached the semi-finals of the Montreal Open squash tournament while he also helped the Indian contingent finish seventh in the World Team Squash Championship in France.
Joshna claimed her maiden WISPA title at home, and sixth overall, when she rallied to beat Sarah Jane Perry 3-1 in the final of Chennai Open. She also successfully defended her singles title in the women’s section in the 61st national championship.