He was beaten by world No 9, Karim Darwish at the CIMB Squash Open Championship in Kuala Lumpur.
Four-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be among the few sportspersons who will welcome the Queen's Baton Relay (QBR) for the Delhi Commonwealth Games when it reaches Chennai on Friday.
National champion Saurav Ghoshal will spearhead India's challenge in the Men's World Team Squash Championship to be held in Odense, Denmark from September 27 to October 3.
It was a disappointing outing for Indian players in the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters 2010 as all lost their opening round matches and bowed out of the squash event at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, in Delhi, on Tuesday. Much was expected of wild card entrant Harinder Pal Sandhu, qualifiers Sandeep Jangra and Siddharth Suchde but the trio failed to impress in a star-studded field.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
World champion and top seed Nicol David of Malaysia beat defending champion Rachael Grinham of Australia to win the Qatar Airways Challenge WISPA World Squash championship.
India's challenge in the squash team event at the Commonwealth Games came to an end after the fourth seeded pair of National champions Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa went down fighting to the Malaysian duo of Nicol David and Beng Hee Ong in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles on Tuesday.
The country's leading players will be in action in the CCI-Western India Open squash tournament, in Mumbai from November 21 to 27.
The seven participants due to represent Pakistan at next month's Games have all been given wildcard entries.
India's Joshna Chinappa crashed out of the US $53,500 WISPA British Open Squash Championship in Manchester after being humbled in the qualifiers by Fiona Moverley of England. World No 35 Joshna lost 12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9 to Moverly, who is ranked 16 places below her, in the first qualifying round of the World Tour Gold event.
The World No. 1 tennis player edged out swimmer Ian Thorpe for the men's athlete of the year award.
The Chennai lass won the girls' under-19 and women's titles in the Servo squash championship.
Serena Williams' bid for the Italian Open was squashed in her first match on Tuesday when the American second seed lost 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to Swiss Patty Schnyder. French Open champion Ana Ivanovic beat Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4 and seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia had a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over Slovak Daniela Hantuchova.
Pakistan dethroned England to win the World junior men's squash crown after a lapse of 20 years.
Dipika Pallikal stunned top seed Christina Mak of Hong Kong in straight games to storm into the semi-finals of the ICL Chennai Open Squash tournament on Friday. The fifth seeded Indian beat her higher-ranked opponent 9-7, 9-5, 9-3 in 34 minutes.
Ritwik Bhattacharya and reigning national champion Saurav Ghosal stand just one win away from making the main draw of US $200,000 Kuwait Open squash tournament, after advancing to the qualifying finals of the event in Kuwait City. While Ritwik upset Australia's Aaron Frankcomb 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 in 53-minutes, Ghosal breezed past local favourite Mohd Al-Tuwary 11-5, 11-0, 11-3 in just 29 minutes.
Second seed Sandeep Jangra and top seed Joshna Chinappa won the men's and women's titles in the 32nd Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra State Open Squash Championships.
Joshna Chinappa's agonising wait for her maiden WISPA title continued as the Indian number one went down in straight games to top seed Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand in the final of the NSC Star Series squash tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
Pakistan's Mansoor Zaman upset second seeded Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia in the final to win the three-star US $30,000 Kolkata International Squash tournament.
A golden dream unfulfilled for over 30 years remained just that in women's hockey but India equalled its best ever medal haul as sailors joined the assorted contributors to the country's tally at the 18th Asian Games, on Friday.
Indian squash hierarchy will be put to the test in the semi-finals of the Granite Open when the country's top two players Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa.
Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghosal lost in the first round of the Hong Kong Open squash tournament.
Saurav Ghosal and Ritwik Bhattacharya are a step away from entering the main draw of the British Open Squash Championships after advancing to the finals of the qualifiers in Manchester.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
In the medal standings, India were placed eighth with a compilation of seven gold, five silver and 17 bronze.
Riwtik Bhattacharya will meet Saurav Ghosal in the semi-final of the ICL Chennai Open squash.
The Indian team, comprising Joshana Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Sunayna Kuruvilla and Tanvi Khanna, are assured of at least a silver now and are likely to face Hong Kong in the final.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Ritwik Bhattacharya beat fourth seed Egyptian Mohammed Essam A Hafiz in the Kolkata International Squash Championship.
'While in Chennai, I play alone. It gets lonely at times because you wish for someone to play with you,' says Joshna Chinnappa, India's number one squash player.
The other semi-final in the National squash championship will be between Siddarth Suchde and Sourav Ghosal.
Ritwik Bhattacharya dethroned Saurav Ghosal to regain the men's crown, while Joshna Chinappa retained the women's title in the Sr National Squash Championships.
Top seed Joshna Chinappa and Deepali Anwekar-Parikh will contest the women's final in the \nSenior National and Maharashtra State Open Squash Championships.
The Indian pair went down 1-3 to defending champions Australia in the men's final of the World Doubles Squash Championship at Chennai.
Delhi's Gaurav Nandrajog clinched the men's title after top seed Ritwik Bhattacharya conceded the final because of a knee injury.
British Open Junior squash champion Sourav Ghosal looks back on his triumph in England.
Top seed Saurav Ghosal and second seeded Wai Hang Wong of Hong Kong carved out contrasting victories to set up a meeting in the final of the fifth ICL Chennai Open Squash championships in Chennai on Saturday.
India's top-ranked player Dipika Pallikal remains firm on her stance of not being part of the premier domestic event until equal prize money is offered to male and female participants.
Joshna Chinappa crashed out of the women's singles while National champion Saurav Ghosal got the better of compatriot Ritwik Bhattacharya to breeze into the men's semi-finals at the squash competition of the Asian Games.
The top seeded Indian pair beat Pakistan's Aisam Qureshi and Aqeel Khan in the men's doubles quarter-finals at the Asian Games.
