Joshna, Dipika in women’s team for South Asian Games

The other members of the women’s team are Sunayna Kuruvilla and Akanksha Salunkhe. There were no major surprises in the  men’s squad comprising  Saurav Ghosal,  Harinder Pal Sandhu, Kush Kumar and Ravi Dixit. 

Mahesh Mangaonkar, who usually finds a place in the men’s squad did not attend the training camp. He had recently reported illness but there was no further word from him, a SRFI release said. In the women’s section, Harshit Kaur Jawanda would have been a favourite for selection but her preparation for the British Junior Open and also academics (she has Board exams coming up) kept this Delhi-based girl away from the trials. 

The exclusion of senior pro Sachika Ingle was a surprise only because she was higher-ranked than Sunayna and Akanksha but then in the trials, both these juniors had the better of Sachika. The Indian men’s and women’s teams were picked at the Indian Squash Academy after a short camp and trials. National coach Cyrus Poncha was confident of a good show.Poncha and Bhuvaneshwari Kumari will be part of the Indian squad as officials.