Ghosal, Joshna to lead teams in Asian squash c’ships

New Delhi

Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa will lead the Indian men’s and women’s teams, respectively, at 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 are 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. The national federation (SRFI) has appointed David Palmer as an event-based coach for the Indian team. Palmer is a former world champion and a nine-time Commonwealth Games medallist (the most by any squash player). He will be in Chennai from March 16 and will fly out with the team for the championship. The costs for Palmer will be borne by SRFI, the federation said. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Sports Ministry are yet to approve the concept of a short-term event-based coach for squash.

Bengaluru

Bengaluru face Maziya for AFC Cup group stage berth

Beaten 1-2 in their away match when they fielded non-regular players, Bengaluru FC will look to turn the tables in their AFC Cup second-leg play-off tie against Maziya S&R of Maldives here tomorrow. Head coach Carles Cuadrat fielded a few players from the academy in the away fixture in Male on February 19 but he will look to go all out in front of the home supporters at the ‘fortress’ — Kanteerava Stadium. Agencies