Joshna Chinappa leads India to semis

Chennai: Joshna Chinappa led Indian women squad booked a semi final berth, winning both their matches in the 15th Asian Senior Squash championship here today. Indian men also clinched their first win in the three team round robin league match, beating Japan 3-0 in Group-C. The hosts highest rated player, Saurav Ghosal spearheaded India’s win in straight games 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 in 27 minutes, beating Shinosuke Tsukue, while Harinder Pal Singh saw off Bumpei Kawano 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 in 29 minutes. Ritwik Bhattacharya dropped a game before getting the better of Takanori Shimizu 11-9, 12-14, 11-6, 11-7. With Japan having completed their outings with a win and a loss in the three team pool, India plays China tomorrow. On the distaff side, Chinappa, Anaka Alankamony and Surbhi Misra won their matches against their Sri Lankan rivals in the morning. In the evening match, Chinappa disposed off China?s top player Jiangli 11-5, 11-5. 11-3 in 18 minutes. Dipika Pallikal made it 2-0 with an easy 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 win in 20 minutes over Xiu Chen and then Alankamony scored over Gu Jinyue 11-4, 11-5, 11-9. In the four team Group-B,both Hong Kong and Indian women have won two matches each to make the semifinal would be playing tomorrow to decide the group winners. China and Sri Lanka have lost both their matches. In three-team Group-A, defending women`s champions Malaysia and Korea, both having won against Japan, would clash tomorrow to decide the group leader. PTI