Joshna Chinappa

Joshna Chinappa is one of India’s most successful squash players. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2024 in the field of sports, from Tamil Nadu ^[1].

Early start

She was born in Chennai on 15 September 1986 into a family from the Kodava community of Coorg ^[2]. Her father, Anjan Chinappa, introduced her to squash at nine and was her coach for 15 years ^[2]. At 14 she took her first senior national title and went on to a record 19 national titles ^[2].

As a junior she became India’s first Asian junior champion in 2003, and in 2005 the first Indian to win the British Open junior title and a silver medal at the world junior championships ^[2].

Career

On the professional tour she reached a world ranking of 10 in 2016 ^[2]. A knee injury in 2011 kept her out for nearly a year, but she came back to win titles in 2012 and help India to gold at the Asian team championships ^[2].

With Dipika Pallikal she won women’s doubles gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, India’s first Commonwealth gold in squash, and silver in 2018 ^[2]. She won individual bronze and team silver at the 2018 Asian Games ^[2]. In 2017 she became the first Indian to win the Asian squash championship, and she retained the title in 2019 ^[2]. She also won the world doubles championships in 2022 ^[2].

She received the Arjuna Award in 2013 ^[2].