Joshna Chinappa was given a workout by Sunayna Kuruvilla, before claiming the 76th Senior National squash championship. The landmark 17th title (bettering Bhuvaneshwari Kumari’s mark of 16) for the World No. 13, is an indication of the distance to be covered by her opponents.

The champion emphasised that exposure to the PSA circuit was a necessity for the Indians to know where they stand.

“The upcoming players have so much potential, hopefully they are nurtured the right way and with a team to help them break through. It would be better for youngsters to play more events. There are doing okay, in terms of training and they have their own team (support system).

“We need to play on the professional tour a lot more, because only there you can fail and assess where you need to improve.”

Joshna added: “The (PSA) tour is such a brutal place, everyone is so good and breaking into the top 50 is tough. You travel and play on our own, no coach or physio around, so it is that much harder.”

Short break

Title number 17 will be followed by a short break, a trip to Coorg to unwind and catch up with dad Anjan Chinappa, former squash player who has a coffee plantation.

“It feels nice to end a long season with a win at the Nationals here. After taking two weeks off, the summer training will start at England in July. My next tournament is the China Open at Shanghai in September, then the PSA circuit continues.”

On Indian squash, she said: “Indians are doing really well. Sourav (Ghosal) broke into the men’s top 10, Mahesh (Mangaonkar) has been winning tournaments (recently crowned the Sekisui Open men’s winner at Switzerland, his eighth PSA title). Sourav and me won individual golds at the Asian Championships 2019 (Kuala Lumpur). Right now it is a sort of golden period for India, hopefully the juniors can take it forward.”

Joshna’s first National title happened when she was 14. At 32 years, she remains the highest ranked Indian woman on the world circuit, her best rank being 10th in 2016. Mangaonkar, 25 tears, retained the men’s singles title at Pune, only the second instance in his career.

The 76th Senior Nationals was held at the Amanora Mall glass courts, by the Maharashtra Squash Racquets Association..