Ghosal, Chinappa to lead Indian teams in Asian Team Squash
New Delhi: Ace players Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa will lead the Indian men’s and women’s squads for the 20th Asian Team Squash Championships to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 25 to 29. While Ghosal is a 13-time national champion and current world no. 13, Chinappa has won the national title 18 times and she is ranked 12th in the world. The other members of the squad announced by the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) include Abhishek Pradhan, Harinder Pal Sandhu and Abhay Singh in the men’s section, and Tanvi Khanna, Sunayna Kuruvilla and Sanya Vats in the women’s category. (PTI)
AITA keeps Paes in playing squad
New Delhi: The AITA selection committee on Tuesday decided to keep veteran Leander Paes in the five-member playing squad for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Croatia, making Divij Sharan the reserve member. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) had to send its final squad to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) by Tuesday. The national federation had initially announced a six-member squad for the Qualifiers tie, scheduled to be held in Zagreb on the hard courts on March 6-7. Croatia is the top-seeded team in the 24-team Qualifiers. The 12 winners will qualify for the year-end Davis Cup Finals while the losing sides will be placed in the World Group I. “We have sent our final team to the ITF today. Captain Rohit Rajpal had a chat with all the players before deciding on who is going to be the reserve player. He spoke to Divij as well, conveying that he will be the sixth member of the travelling side,” said an AITA source. (PTI)
Nadal back in action in Acapulco
Mexico City: Rafael Nadal is back in action for the first time since his Australian Open quarter-final exit, heading the field at the Mexico Open in Acapulco. A two-time former champion of the tournament, Nadal was knocked out in the second round last year by mercurial Australian Nick Kyrgios in a match that sparked angry words between the two. Nadal accused Kyrgios of “lacking respect” after he served underarm in their 2019 clash, but the Spaniard said Monday he felt no lingering resentment. “Last year, I lost a tight match that I should have won, but it’s part of our sport and I don’t have a bad memory of that,” Nadal said. “I have never had a feeling of revenge, no feeling of revenge helps you win games, but the opposite,” he added. “The only thing that revenge does is that you can not think clearly.” World number two Nadal has a chance to return to the top of the rankings this week — if he lifts the trophy and Novak Djokovic fails to reach the semi-finals in Dubai. Nadal will open his Acapulco campaign on Tuesday against 54th-ranked compatriot Pablo Andujar. (AFP)