Joshna Chinappa rates her record Asian Squash title as the biggest achievement of her career

Joshna Chinappa, who became the first Indian the win the Asian Squash title on Sunday, rated her Asian crown as the biggest achievement of her singles career. Chinappa is India’s highest-ranked squash player and beat compatriot Dipika Pallikal Karthik in the women’s final in Chennai.

“I am first a singles player so this surely is one of the highlights of my career,” Joshna told PTI on Monday.

Joshna, who had won the historic Commonwealth Games doubles gold with Dipika Pallikal in Glasgow three years ago, edged her longtime teammate in another tense battle. The Asian crown is a huge boost for the 30-year- old ahead of the Commonwealth and Asian Games next year.

“The Commonwealth doubles gold was huge for both of us and now to win the Asian crown at home is extremely special,” she added.

The Asian triumph marked the end of a memorable season for Joshna who has achieved multiple firsts in the past 12 months.

She broke into the top-10 of the world rankings in July last year and days before becoming the Asian champion, reached the World Championship quarterfinals in Egypt, becoming the second Indian to do so after Pallikal.

“Though I have been playing better than ever the last two years, I feel I can bring out more out of my game. It is time I start beating the top-five players regularly, perform in big events,” said Joshna, who is currently ranked 14th in the world.

It was an unprecedented moment for Indian squash when Joshna and Pallikal stepped on the makeshift glass court at the Express Mall in Chennai to play the final.

They both may be teammates for long but when pitted against each other, it is usually a fiercely fought battle with an odd push and shove being a common occurrence.

Prior to the final, Pallikal had beaten Joshna three times in a row, including the latest senior nationals.

“It is tough to be honest. There are no secrets out there. We travel on the tour together and train at the academy in Chennai at least couple of times a week.

“But more than knowing each others’ game, it is mentally tougher to play your compatriot, it is a lot more emotional as well. I am glad this time there was no pushing and shoving. It was all fair,” she said on a lighter note.

Joshna and Pallikal have started seeing more of each other in the last six months with the latter shifting training base completely to hometown Chennai.

“All three of us in fact (including leading men’s player Saurav Ghosal) train and travel together,” she said.

All three of them also speak very highly of India’s Egyptian coach Ashraf El Karagi, who took charge in March.

“It has been very helpful to have him around. He understands my game well, what I need to do at a particular juncture of the match and advises me accordingly. Plus, he is travelling with us on the tour and therefore is able to rectify our mistakes instantly,” she said.