CHENNAI: “WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!,” it says on the extreme bottom right corner of the glass court installed at the centre of the Atrium in Express Avenue Mall. The team of Joshna Chinappa, Abhay Singh, Anahat Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar have broken India’s hoodoo in the Squash World Cup, whitewashing Hong Kong, China 3-0 in the final on Sunday.
In their third World Cup appearance at home in Chennai, India finally lifted the World Cup title, after disappointments in previous editions.
Joshna Chinappa, who has endured heartbreaks in previous World Cups, finally got her hands on the trophy. The Chennai player wore her usually long smile as she posed with the trophy. “Definitely among my top 5 moments of my career,” a visibly relieved Chinappa told select media after India's win.
For someone who has seen the zenith of squash by being in the top 10, she must be a bundle of nerves while walking to the court for the final. Chinappa, however, said she was more excited than nervous. “I was excited to play today. Playing in front of the crowd where they keep cheering you — we don’t get this often in our careers, so there were a lot of expectations,” she added.
To lift the title on the podium and to hold the trophy with the national anthem being played aloud in the background, it was no surprise that Abhay felt special being part of the winning team. “An unbelievable evening, what more can I say? I am so privileged to be able to do this with some really legendary teammates and what an end to the year and what a week,” he said.
Teen star Anahat put the finishing touches to a dominant display, as she saw off Tomato Ho 7-2,7-2, 7-5.
Beginning the final was Chinappa, who faced Ki Ya Lee. The attendance soared as she made it to the court. With the makeshift galleries for the event full to the brim, spectators started climbing top floors to cheer up the local favourite. It was at its loudest when Chinappa, who was 2-1 up, was leading 6-1 in the final game and was about to serve. Contrary to the crowd’s expectation, a long rally ensued. Excitement turned to apprehension, only for the minute-long rally to be broken when Yi Lee’s back hand lob did not meet the glass. Chinappa left the racquet and clenched her fist to celebrate the win.
The dominating win set up the theme for the remaining matches. Abhay Singh, who was part of probably the tournament’s longest matches, finished his opponent Alex Leung within 19 minutes. This is his joint shortest time taken to win, equating the time taken to beat Brazil’s Diego Gobbi in a Pool match earlier.
Coming off an injury scare in her gruelling semifinal game against Egyptian Nour Heikal, Anahat defeated Hong Kong’s world No 31 Tomato Ho to give India the title.
Results: India 3-0 Hong Kong (Joshna Chinappa bt K Yi Lee 3-1, Abhay Singh bt Alex Leung 3-0, Anahat Singh bt Tomato Ho 3-0).