National champions Velavan Senthilkumar and Anahat Singh clinched the men’s and women’s titles respectively at the Squash Indian Tour 4, which concluded at the Indian Squash Academy, here Friday. Top seed and World No. 46 Senthilkumar overcame Egypt’s Adam Hawal 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4 to lift the men’s crown. The Chennai player displayed superior control in the closing stages to quell the challenge of the rising Egyptian.
In the women’s final, Delhi teenager and World No. 29 Anahat Singh battled past former World No 10 and veteran compatriot Joshna Chinappa in a pulsating five-game contest, winning 11-8, 11-13, 11-13, 11-6, 11-8. This was Anahat’s second straight victory over the seasoned campaigner after the Daly College Indian Open last month.
“Nice to see rising talent from here,” said Joshna, 39, acknowledging Anahat’s impressive run. Senthilkumar, Anahat, Joshna and Abhay Singh will represent India at the Squash World Cup beginning here next week. Newcastle twice blew the lead against Tottenham to draw 2-2 after Cristian Romero scored the second of his goals in the fifth minute of added time. Jack Grealish scored the only goal of the game as Everton beat Bournemouth 1-0.
City survives another scare
City’s victory saw it close the gap on first-place Arsenal, which hosts Brentford on Wednesday. But it was another game when the defensive frailties of Pep Guardiola’s team were laid bare. City blew a two-goal halftime lead against Leeds on Saturday — needing a stoppage time winner from Phil Foden to avoid dropping points. It was a similar story against Fulham as City led 3-1 at halftime, with Tijani Reijnders and Foden adding to Haaland’s goal, while Emile Smith-Rowe pulled one back before the break.
Foden got his second early in the second half and a Sander Berge own goal seemingly put City in total control with less than an hour gone. That was until Fulham mounted a fightback. Alex Iwobi got Fulham’s second with a low curling effort from outside of the box. Samuel Chukwueze then scored two in the space of six minutes to set up tense finale. Josko Gvardiol produced the crucial clearance to seal City’s win.
“I know you’re going to ask what happened — I don’t have an answer. It’s the Premier League, right?” Guardiola said. Romero saves Spurs With an overhead kick deep into added time, Romero came to Tottenham’s rescue at St James’ Park. Newcastle took a 1-0 lead through Bruno Guimaraes in the 71st after the home team had dominated the first half. Romero leveled with a near-post header seven minute later.
Newcastle led again in the 86th when Anthony Gordon converted from the penalty spot, but the drama wasn’t over yet. Romero’s acrobatic effort stunned the home crowd and salvaged a point for Spurs to prevent its losing run being extended to four games. Newcastle manager Eddie Howe described the late equalizer as “heartbreaking.”
“We’ve had similar experiences this season in terms of not defending leads at the end of games and that’s something we have to reflect on,” he said. Everton bounced back from defeat to Newcastle on Saturday with victory at Bournemouth. Grealish — on loan from Man City — scored his second of the season in the 78th.
