Anaka's recommendation for Arjuna raises doubts

NEW DELHI: Twenty-year-old squash player Anaka Alankamony is not a national champion, her ranking has slipped from a career high 59 to 151 in the last four years and she has not done anything notable on the professional tour to have her name recommended for the prestigious Arjuna Award.

Anaka's name was one of 15 the Kapil Dev-led Awards committee recommended to the sports ministry yesterday. The ministry is expected to take the final call later this week.

A member of the committee said Anaka's inclusion was backed by Kapil Dev in the wake of recent squash results, including the historic women's doubles gold at the Commonwealth Games.

"It is very tough to have a consensus in these meetings. Luckily Mr. Kapil Dev was there to help us zero in on the names. He thought squash should be encouraged further after the CWG success and the award would give a young player like Anaka much-needed motivation," the committee member told PTI today.

The Chennai-born player's presence in the committee's list attracts attention as her ranking has seen a freefall in the last four years due to lack of major individual achievements at the senior level. However, she had won team medals at the Asian Games (bronze in 2010 Guangzhou) and gold in 2012 Asian Championships.

And in all team events, she has been a third or fourth player with Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa sharing the bulk of the responsibility.

The slide in Anaka's ranking shows that she has not been at her best in the last couple of years and is playing lesser number of tournaments, mainly due to her studies in the United States.

Her success on the Asian junior circuit has not carried on to the highest level.

India's top squash player Saurav Ghosal feels Anaka could have done more to earn the prestigious honour.

"Maybe it is a bit too soon for Anaka. Having said that, I am happy for her and hope the award gives her that extra motivation to excel in the game," Ghosal said.

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