Saurav, Dipika and Joshana bond outside the courts. (Express Photo/Kevin D’Souza) Saurav, Dipika and Joshana bond outside the courts. (Express Photo/Kevin D’Souza)

There was something strange about the way Joshana Chinappa looked up at the referee. It was a look nobody had ever seen India’s number one women’s player exhibit. Deep into the fourth game, trailing 2-1, her opponent Dipika Pallikal had just played a perfectly weighted slider that drifted off the side wall before falling dead. Chinappa ran straight into her opponent and hoped for a call of ‘let’ or ‘stroke’ to come in her favour. It didn’t, despite her pleading look. Championship point, Pallikal.

A few shots later, it was all over. Pallikal beat Chinappa 4-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 to win only her second national title. More significantly, it was the first time since 2002 that the 14-time winner Chinappa had lost a match at the senior nationals.

Pallikal let her racquet slip from her hands, choosing to cover her face instead. “It was more a sense of relief than anything else. I haven’t had a good season so far and I’ve struggled with injuries. So I’m just happy to get the win,” asserts the 24-year-old. When asked if her subdued celebration was out of respect for her opponent, with whom she had conquered the Commonwealth Games women’s doubles gold in 2014, the world number 19 simply answers: “Yes.”

The last time Pallikal participated at the national event was when she won it back in 2011 — Chinappa coincidentally had missed that tournament due to injury. Since then the Chennai-girl has boycotted the event as a protest against the disparity in prize money between the men’s and women’s event.

This time though, for the 73rd edition of the senior nationals at the Otter’s Club in Mumbai, the monetary difference was neutralised to a Rs 1.25 lakh cash prize for each winner, and a buzz had consequently formed around the possibility of world number 10 Chinappa and Pallikal meeting in the final. So much so that during a pre-event conference, defending men’s champion and world number 17 Saurav Ghosal went out of the way to remind those present about the prospect. “It’s definitely going to be the biggest spectacle of the tournament. Everyone will want to watch that match over any other. There are two top 20 players in the world competing after all,” mentions the 11-time national champion, who won his latest title soon after Pallikal won hers.

As Ghosal had predicted, a set of bouncers had to push through the crowd to form a clear isle that would allow the two players to pass through.

Chinappa started the game positively, powering her way to a 7-0 lead in the first game before closing it out 11-4. Pallikal then came back just as Chinappa inconceivably took on a defensive tone and allowed her younger opponent to get back and then push forward to seal the tie.

This was the 13th time the two has played each other, but their first meeting at the senior nationals since the 2009 final. The pair has since forged a close friendship despite meeting on tour regularly, the latest being in the semi-final of the Granite Open in Canada in February 2015. Then there was that epic five-set clash in the Asian Games quarterfinal. “It’s all about shutting it out of your head before the game,” Pallikal says. “Whenever Joshana and I have to play, the first step is to switch off facebook and twitter. You’re playing your good friend, so you don’t need extra distractions,” she adds.

Record 11 for Ghosal

Top men’s player Saurav Ghosal won his record 11th title, surpassing RK Narpat Singh’s tally of 10, achieved in succession from 1946 to 1955. For the third time in a row, Ghosal faced Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu in the final, beating him 11-7, 7-11, 3-11, 11-8, 14-12 this time around.

This was also the first time since March that Ghosal competed at a professional event, owing to an injury to his right ankle. “I was cleared to play just last month. I had to get a few injections in the bone and it was quite extensive. But I’m just happy to be here and win the record. It’s a dream,” he says.

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