Joshna Chinappa (born 15 September 1986) is an Indian professional squash player.[1] She reached a career-high world ranking of #10 in 2016. She was the first Indian to win the British Junior Open in 2005.
Chinappa was the youngest Indian women's national champion and is the record-holder of most national championship wins with 18 titles. In 2024, she was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri by the Government of India.[2]
In April 2018, Joshna upset Nicol David in the second round, in straight games, of the El Gouna World Series Event. This was one of her more prominent upsets.[7]
Early life
Joshna Chinnappa was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on 15 September 1986.[8] Her father Anjan Chinappa runs a coffee plantation at Coorg.[9] Her great granduncle, K.M. Cariappa, who was the first commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in independent India, grandfather, and father were all squash players.[9][10] Joshna started playing squash at the age of seven. When she was eight, she considered whether to pursue badminton or tennis. Eventually, she chose squash which she started playing at the Madras Cricket Club.[10] Her father, who represented the Tamil Nadu squash team, was also her first coach.[10][9]
Joshna receiving a prize from Sunil Dutt, Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, after winning the 2005 British Junior Open
2000–2008
In 2000, Joshna won her first junior and senior national championship titles.[13][14] She became the youngest player to hold both titles at the age of 14.[14] In 2003, Joshna made history by winning the British Junior Open title in the U17 category when she was 16.[9][15] The next year, she reached the final of the U19 category of the same competition, losing to Egypt's Omneya Abdel Kawy.[15] In 2005, she came back to the same tournament again and clinched the title after beating Tenille Swartz of South Africa.[1][15] In July 2005, Joshna competed in the World Junior Squash Championships in Belgium, reaching the finals.[16] She was defeated by Raneem El Weleily of Egypt. She had also played this tournament in 2003, when she reached the last eight.[16]
In 2007, Joshna said that she had decided to change coaches from Mohammad Medhaat to Malcolm Willstrop.[14] Joshna won her first WISPA tour title in 2008 when she won the NSC Super Satellite No 3 in Malaysia, by beating Low Wee Wern.[1][17] The following week, she defeated Wern again in the NSC Super Satellite to claim her second tour title.[1][17] At this time, she was at her career best PSA World rank of 39.[14][17]
2010–2012
In 2010, Joshna won the German Ladies Open, beating Gaby Schmohl 11–6, 11–7, 11–6 at Saarbrücken. This was her fourth tour title and first in Europe.[1][18] In 2011, she won the Windy City Open by beating her compatriot Dipika Pallikal 3–2 in the final.[19]
Joshna faced an injury layoff in August while playing in the Hamptons Open.[20] When she came back after a seven-month break in May 2012, she clinched the WISPA title in the 2012 Chennai Open in her hometown.[20] Joshna defeated Sarah Jane Perry of England 9–11, 11–4, 11–8, 12–10.[21]
2014
Joshna with Dipika Pallikal
In February, Joshna won the Winter Club Women's Open.[22] In April, she won the Richmond Open, upsetting Australia's former world champion Rachael Grinham 11–9, 11–5, 11–8. This was her first win against Rachael in six meetings.[23] In March, she reached her new career-high PSA world ranking of 19.[24]
In August, Joshna and Dipika entered the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as the fifth-seeds in women's doubles. After winning every match in the group stage, they advanced to quarterfinals, in which they beat Joelle King and Amanda Land-Murphy in straight games.[25] They beat the second-seeded Australian pair of Rachael Grinham and Kasey Brown in the semifinals to reach the final, where they defeated the English pair of Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro. They accomplished the upset win against the top-seeded pair in less than 28 minutes with scores of 11–6, 11–8.[26] Joshna and Dipika made history by winning the gold medal at the event. This was India's first-ever squash medal in the Commonwealth Games.[27]
2015
In May, Joshna reached the semifinals at the 2015 HKFC International, but failed to beat Annie Au from Hong Kong.[1][28] In August, she won the Victorian Open in Australia for her tenth tour title. She beat Line Hansen from Denmark 11–5, 11–4, 11–9.[29] In September, she won the NSCI Open title, by beating Egypt's Habiba Mohamed 11–8, 11–9, 11–6. Joshna was injured during the second game of the match, after Mohamed unintentionally struck her on the face with the racket.[30][31]
In October, Joshna beat Salma Hany from Egypt 11–9, 8–11, 5–11, 11–8, 11–9 to reach the semifinals of the 2015 Carol Weymuller Open.[32] Joshna was defeated by Joelle King in the semifinals. In the first round of the Qatar Classic, Joshna defeated Raneem El Welily from Egypt, the World No. 1 at the time.[33] In December 2015, Joshna achieved her career-high world rank of 13. She become the highest-ranked Indian woman player, overtaking Dipika in rankings for the first time.[34]
2016
Joshna after winning the gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games, Guwahati, 2016
In May, Joshna reached the semifinals of the 2016 HKFC International in Hong Kong. This time she was able to beat Annie Au 3–2, to whom she had lost the same title the previous year.[37] However, she lost in the finals to New Zealand's Joelle King.[38] In July, Joshna rose to her new career-high ranking of 10, becoming the second Indian to break into the world's top 10 after Dipika.[39] In August, Joshna participated in the 2016 SRAM Invitational in Malaysia. She managed to reach the finals after beating Joelle King in the semifinal, but was defeated by Malaysian Nicol David in the final.[40]
In October, Joshna reached the finals of the 2016 Otters International in Mumbai after beating Tesni Evans 3–1, 11–6, 15–13, 9–11, 11–8.[41][42] She lost to Hong Kong rival Annie Au in the finals 9–11, 11–13, 7–11.[43] In November, she participated in the 2016 World Team Squash Championships in Paris with Dipika, Akanksha Salunkhe, and Sunayna Kuruvilla on the women's team.[44] The Indian team did not qualify for the knockout stage of the championship.
2017
In March, Joshna competed in the 2017 British Open Squash Championship. She lost in the second round match against Raneem El Welily.[45] In April, she participated in the 2017 Asian Individual Squash Championships, which took place in Chennai. She reached the finals where she faced Palikkal. Joshna won the long match 13–15, 12–10, 11–13, 11–4, 11–4, becoming the first Asian Squash Champion from India.[6][46] In an interview, she said that winning this title was her biggest achievement.[47]
In August, Joshna partnered with Dipika to play in the World Doubles Squash Championship. As the second-seeds, they cruised into the quarterfinals[48] and beat Samantha Cornett and Nikole Todd 10–11, 11–6, 11–8 to enter the semifinals.[49] They settled for a bronze medal after being defeated by Jenny Duncalf and Alison Waters.[50]
In September, Joshna won her 15th national championship title at the 74th National Squash Championships which took place in Greater Noida. This put her only one title short of the record for most number of national championship titles.[51] Later that month, she played in the 2017 HKFC International as the third-seed. She advanced to the final, but lost to Nour El Tayebl.[52]
2018
In April, Joshna participated in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She reached the quarterfinals of the women's singles event after beating Tamika Saxby from Australia,[53] but lost to Joelle King 11–5, 11–6, 11–9.[54] In April, Joshna won her second-round match at El Gouna International against the eight-time world champion Nicol David in straight games.[7] She lost in the quarterfinals.[55] In August, Joshna reached the semifinals at the 2018 Asian Games. She won the semifinal match against Nicol David 12–10, 11–9, 6–11, 10–12, 11–9.[56] She lost to Sivasangari Subramaniam in the final, and settled for the silver medal.[57] In October, Joshna reached the quarterfinals of the Carol Weymuller Open.[58]
2019
In March, Joshna reached the quarterfinals of the Black Ball Open, where she lost to Joelle King.[59] She went down in the semifinals of the Macau Open in April.[60] In May, she won the 2019 Asian Individual Squash Championships, after beating Annie Au in the final.[61] Joshna won her 17th national squash champion title in June, breaking the record held by Bhuvneshwari Kumari who had won the national title 16 times.[62] In the World Squash Championship which took place in October, Joshna lost to Nour El Sherbini of Egypt in the pre-quarterfinal.[63]
2020
In February, Joshna won her 18th national title in the 77th Senior National Championship.[64]
Titles
On 2 February 2014, Joshna won the Winnipeg Winter Open trophy – her maiden WSA world title, by defeating Egypt's Heba El Torky 11-13 11-8 11-5 3-11 12–10 in the final.[65] Her other titles are:
Asian Games, 2018 - Bronze (Singles), Silver (Team)
Joshna and Dipika are considered as India's top performing women players of all time, as they both had reached top 10 in the world in their careers.[66] Joshna says that the so-called rivalry between the two is hyped up by the media. They are both competitive but get along well, as they are often roommates for events, and teammates in events such as the Commonwealth Games.[67] The two together won the Women’s Doubles Gold Medal in the 2022 Squash World Doubles Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
Cyrus Poncha is an Indian squash administrator and coach and former junior squash player. Born in Mumbai, he is currently based out of Chennai, and coaches at the ICL-TNSRA Squash Academy. Presently, he is the Secretary General of Squash Rackets Federation of India. He is a Dronacharya Awardee. He was adjudged Asian Squash Federation Coach of the Year six times. He has coached several squash players such as Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Saurav Ghoshal and Velavan Senthilkumar.
Saurav Ghosal is an Indian former squash player. He reached a career-high ranking of World No. 10 in April 2019. He won the first ever squash medal for India, a bronze in the singles and mixed doubles at the Commonwealth Games.
Indian Squash Academy is a squash training facility established by the Squash Racquets Federation of India (SRFI) in Chennai, India. The India Cements was one of the sponsors it had initially sponsored the 1990 facility along with the Tamil Nadu Squash Racquets Association (TNSRA). It has trained several squash players such as Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinapa, Dipika Pallikal and Manish Chotrani.
Dipika Pallikal is an Indian professional squash player. She was the first Indian player to break into the top 10 in the world rankings.
Mittal Champions Trust was a trust which supported Indian athletes with world-beating potential. It was funded by Lakshmi Mittal and was initiated by his son-in-law Amit Bhatia.
Laura Jane Massaro is an English retired professional squash player.
The squash at the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi. The singles play took place from 4 October.
The Squash Rackets Federation of India aka SRFI is the Indian governing body for the game of squash. It conducts the National Squash Championship, promotes the game through the state squash bodies, provides training facilities, selects the squad, and chooses coaches for the national team.
The India national women's squash team represents India in international squash team competitions, and is governed by the Squash Rackets Federation of India.
The 2011 Women's Asian Individual Squash Championships is the women's edition of the 2011 Asian Individual Squash Championships, which serves as the individual Asian championship for squash players. The event took place in Penang in Malaysia from 26 to 30 April 2011. Nicol David won her eighth Asian Individual Championships title, defeating Annie Au in the final.
India participated in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom held from 23 July to 3 August 2014.
Squash is a recreational sport in India but is slowly gaining popularity as a competitive sport. It is governed by the Squash Rackets Federation of India. The India men's national squash team has participated in three quarter finals of the World Team Squash Championships since 1967.
The Squash at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held at the Scotstoun Sports Campus, Glasgow. Singles play took place from 24 July to 28 July.
The Women's doubles event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held at the Scotstoun Sports Campus, Glasgow from 29 July to 2 August.
The 2015 Women's Asian Individual Squash Championships is the women's edition of the 2015 Asian Individual Squash Championships, which serves as the individual Asian championship for squash players. The event took place in Kuwait from 1 to 5 May 2015. Nicol David won her ninth Asian Individual Championships title, defeating Annie Au in the final.
The Women's Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open 2015 is the women's edition of the 2015 Hong Kong Open, which is a PSA World Series event. The event took place in Hong Kong from 1 December to 6 December. Nicol David won her tenth Hong Kong Open trophy, beating Laura Massaro in the final.
The Women's Tournament of Champions 2016 is the women's edition of the 2016 Tournament of Champions, which is a PSA World Series event. The event took place at the Grand Central Terminal in New York City in the United States from 9 January to 14 January. Nour El Sherbini won her first Tournament of Champions trophy, beating Amanda Sobhy in the final.
Janet Vidhi is a professional squash player from India. She lives in Delhi. She is the 9th Indian woman squash player in history to enter the world top-100 rankings. She achieved her Best World Ranking of no. 88 as per the list issued by Professional Squash Association on 1 April 2017.
The 2017 Women's Asian Individual Squash Championships is the women's edition of the 2017 Asian Individual Squash Championships, which serves as the individual Asian championship for squash players. The event took place at Express Avenue Mall in Chennai from 26 to 30 April 2017. Defending champion Nicol David decided to skip the event. Joshana Chinappa defeated her compatriot Dipika Pallikal to win her first Asian Individual Squash Championship title.
Tanvi Khanna is an Indian female professional squash player and a regular member of the Indian squash team. She is currently ranked 69 in the world and regarded as one of the finest squash players to emerge from India. She was ranked as women's no.1 squash player in India in September 2023. She also plays for Columbia Lions squash team which belongs to the Columbia University. She achieved her highest PSA world ranking of 86 in September 2021 and broke into the top 100 for the first time during the 2019-20 PSA World Tour.
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