National squash | Joshna to meet Akanksha in semifinals

New Delhi The evergreen Joshna Chinappa was in a spot of bother, but shrugged off the lethargy to beat Unnati Tripathi 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4 in the quarterfinals of the HCL 81st National squash championship at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old Joshna, who has won a record 18 national titles and was ranked in the top-10 of the world at her prime, will be up against second seed Akanksha Salunkhe in the semifinals.

Akanksha was in vibrant form as she raced past Shameena Riaz in straight games.

In fact, except for Joshna’s match, all the other seven quarterfinals in the men’s and women’s sections were won in straight games.

The other semifinal in the women’s event will be between top seed and defending champion Anahat Singh, who dropped just five points against Pooja Arthi, and Tanvi Khanna.

Sanya Vats looked to be fighting well against Tanvi, but after two games she retired.

In the men’s section, second seed Velavan Senthilkumar alone had to stretch a little more than the other three, Abhay Singh, Ramit Tandon and Veer Chotrani to make the semifinals.

Velavan stopped the fine run of Yash Fadte 11-6, 11-6, 11-8.

But like Joshna, more time on court in competition, may do good to Velavan who will play Veer in the semifinals.

Abhay, the defending champion, sharpened his arsenal in his second match, after having tested the fitness and game of Aryan Pratap Singh in the earlier round.

The results (quarterfinals): Men: Abhay Singh bt Aryan Pratap Singh 11-4, 11-6, 11-3; Ramit Tandon bt Suraj Chand 11-9, 11-5, 11-3; Veer Chotrani bt Om Semwal 11-2, 11-6, 11-6; Velavan Senthilkumar bt Yash Fadte 11-6, 11-6, 11-8.

Women: Anahat Singh bt Pooja Arthi 11-3, 11-0, 11-2; Tanvi Khanna bt Sanya Vats 11-7, 11-8 (retd.); Joshna Chinappa bt Unnati Tripathi 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4; Akanksha Salunkhe bt Shameena Riaz 11-4, 11-4, 11-5.