Harinder Pal Sandhu & Anaka Alankamony Win Historic Indian Titles

Harinder Pal Sandhu and Anaka Alankamony won the PSA Indian Challenger No3 and WISPA Indian Challenger No1 titles, respectively, in the Indian Challenger squash series at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai.

The championships were supported by the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports - and for the first time in Indian squash history, there was an all-Indian line-up in both finals.

The climax of the men's $6,000 PSA Tour Super Satellite event between Harinder Pal Sandhu and Siddharth Suchde was a tense affair, with three of the five games going to tie-breaks.

Eighth seed Sandhu was the deserving winner, coming from two games down to beat Suchde, the No4 seed, 11-13, 10-12, 11-8, 14-12, 11-5 in a marathon 111 minutes.

The climax of the $4000 WISPA World Tour event saw Anaka Alankamony defeat Surbhi Misra to become the youngest winner on the WISPA Tour. The 15-year-old from Chennai was playing in her first tournament as a WISPA member.

The youngster's exceptional skill, speed and control over her 19-year-old opponent led Alankamony to an 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 victory in 29 minutes.

"I wish to thank the federation, my coaches, my family and sponsors for all their support," said the delighted Alankamony, a home grown girl and a trainee of the Indian Squash Academy.

Srivatsan Subramanian, Secretary General of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, added: "An excellent achievement for Indian squash - I wish to congratulate all the Indians for a great showing. This tournament would not have been possible without the support from the Union Ministry, for whom we are very grateful."

Men's Final:
[8] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt [4] Siddharth Suchde (IND) 11-13, 10-12, 11-8, 14-12, 11-5 (111m)

Women's Final:
[6] Anaka Alankamony (IND) bt [4] Surbhi Misra (IND) 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 (29m)