Asian junior gold medallist Anaka Alankamony on Sunday claimed her second title and the first one abroad in the women’s professional squash tour when she stunned top seed Kylie Lindsay of New Zealand in the final of the Ipswich Open in Queensland.
The 18-year-old trainee at the Indian Squash Academy, Chennai, took advantage of a string of errors from the World No. 39 to win in straight games 11-8, 13-11, 11-5.
Alankamony, world ranked 93, had earlier beaten sixth seed Cheyna Tucker of South Africa in the semifinals and fourth-seeded Christine Nunn of Australia in the quarterfinals to complete a weekend of upsets.
The Chennai girl settled far quicker than Lindsay in the summit clash and took control in all three games to record a comfortable win.
“It’s been an amazing week for me. I was seventh seed for this tournament so it feels really good to win here,” Alankamony said.
“I had a five-setter in the morning today and yesterday I had a five-setter and a four-setter, so it was a long day yesterday and today, but it feels wonderful now,” she added.
Alankamony said she felt at home in these conditions. “I train in Chennai and it’s very humid there and I think it was a big advantage for me because it’s a similar climate over there. The climate didn’t really affect me — I really enjoyed playing here,” she said. Alankamony exuded confidence of a good showing in next week’s Queensland Open in Sandgate.
Joshna loses
Meanwhile in the Macau Open, a WISPA event, qualifier Joshna Chinappa fell in the semifinals, losing to the top seed Joelle King of New Zealand 11-7, 11-2, 11-3.
