Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa won the national squash titles for the fifth and seventh years, respectively.

By Anshul Baijal

Saurav Ghosal was all smiles after winning the national squash title for the 5th year in-a-row. The world No. 32 and top seed was up against a familiar foe Harinder Pal Singh in the final on Sunday and won 11-2, 11-5, 11-3. Joshna Chinappa won the women's crown.

Harinder and Ghosal not only represent the same state - Tamil Nadu - but also have the same coach. They play a lot of squash together and Ghosal believes this made a difference in the final.

"We both know each other inside out. I knew his game and could put him under a lot of pressure. Even Harinder could read my game. It was a clean game where the referees were not even involved," the champion said at the crowded Delhi Gymkhana Sunday night.

"Both Harry (Harinder) and I like big crowds. We wanted to put up a good show for the fans. People should not go back thinking that squash is a boring game. Even squash can be very entertaining," Ghosal said.

Ghosal would be a top-30 player when the January professional world rankings are released and the 23-year-old wants to keep working hard. "I played good squash this year and hopefully I can make some more inroads in 2010." He added "I want to be in the top-20 by the time Commonwealth Games come in October and I am playing well enough to be there."

In the women's final, Joshna beat her Tamil Nadu state-mate Anaka Alankamony 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5 to lift the trophy for the 7th time. Chinappa, ranked 33 in the world, was stretched and the champions admitted it was her experience that made the difference. "I am much senior to her and I have played a lot more in the international circuit so obviously that was always going to be a factor," said Joshna.

Despite being a consistent performer at the international circuit, Joshna keeps coming back for the nationals each year. She says that winning the nationals has been one of my childhood goals. "Winning the senior nationals was one of my goals ever since I was 13-14. It is a prestigious tournament and I want to win as many as I can and make a record."

Come 2010, and it will be a busy year for Chennai girl. Joshna hopes to bring India glory at the Commonwealth Games and also the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. "Next year is a very important year. I want to win a medal at both the Commonwealth and Asiad. Personally I would like to be in the (world) top-20 next year."

Other results: Men's 3rd-4th: Gaurav Nandrajog beat Siddharth Suchde - Walkover. Women's 3rd-4th: Aparajita Balamurkan beat Saumya Karki 16-14, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9. Over-35 men's: Uday Singh beat Dalip Tripathi 11-9, 11-9, 11-6. Over-40 men's: Rohit Thawani beat Mohanish Sawant 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5. Over-45 men's: O'Neil Pramanik beat Yudhishthira Kapur 11-6, 11-3, 11-3. Over-50 men's: Vaman Apte beat Viney Singh 11-5, 11-6, 11-4. Over-55 men's: B.I. Singh beat Rajiv Reddy 11-9, 11-9, 11-6.