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 15th
Asian Senior Squash Championships 2010
01-08 May, Chennai, India |
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08-May, Team Finals:
Women:
Hong Kong 2-0 India
Joey Chan 3-1 Anaka Alankamony 7-11, 11-1, 11-9, 11-7
Rebecca Chiu 3-0 Joshna Chinappa
11-7, 11-2, 11-5
Annie Au v Dipika Pallikal dead rubber
Men:
Pakistan 2-0 Malaysia
Yasir Butt 3-1 Nafiizwan Adnan
11-5, 7-11 11-4, 11-4
Aamir Atlas Khan 3-0 Azlan Iskandar
11-8, 11-9, 11-3
Hong Kong & Pakistan
take team titles
The 15th Asian Squash Championships concluded in Chennai
with disappointment for the hosts in the women's final and
an upset as the top seeds and defending champions were
beaten in the men's final.
In the Women’s final Hong Kong's Joey Chan came from behind
to beat Anaka Alakamony 7-11, 11-1, 11-9, 11-7, while
Rebecca Chiu scored over Joshna Chinappa 11-7, 11-2, 11-5.
Alankamony fought out with great will and never yielded a
single point easily to more experienced Joey Chan. Anaka, a
school going kid at age of 15 measured herself well claiming
the first game before losing to Chan.
Chinappa, playing the second match, couldn't match the
gallant work of her compatriot as Chiu gained revenge for
her defeat by Chinappa in the pool stages, winning in quick
time to take the match for Hong Kong.
Having yielded the 2-0 lead in the best of three match
format and the title to Hong Kong, the dead rubber match
between Dipika Pallikal and Annie Au was not held.
Pakistan’s Yasir Butt and Amir Atlas Khan played to their
potential and were agile in dashing the hopes of defending
champions, Malaysia with a clinical 2-0 verdict to regain
the title after a gap of six years.
Butt put Pakistan in the lead disposing of Nafiizwan Adnan,
number three player of Malaysia 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 11-4 and
Atlas Khan sealed the issue with a brilliant display in
getting the better of Asia’s top star Azlan Iskandar at
11-8, 11-9, 13-11.
Men's final positions:
1. Pakistan, 2. Malaysia, 3. India, 4. Kuwait, 5. Hong Kong,
6. Japan, 7. Korea, 8. Sri Lanka, 9. Singapore, 10. Iran,
11. Iraq, 12. China, 13. Chinese Taipei
Women's final positions: 1. Hong Kong, 2. India, 3.
Malaysia, 4. Korea, 5. Japan, 6. China, 7. Sri Lanka |
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07-May, Teams
Day Three:
Women's Semi-Finals:
Hong Hong 2-1 Malaysia
(3) Joey Chan bt (3) Low Wee Wern
8-11,11-6,11-6,11-8(50m)
(1) Rebecca Chiu Lost (1) Nicol David 3-11,8-11,11-5(20m)
(2) Annie Au bt (2) Delia Arnold 11-8,11-7,8-11,11-7(60m)
India 2-0 Korea
(3) Anaka Alankamony bt (3) Kim Ga Hye 11-8,11-3,11-8(20m)
(1) Joshna Chinappa bt (1) Song Sun Mi 11-2,11-4,11-8(22m)
(2) Dipika Pallikal (2) Park Eun Ok Dead Rubber
Men's Semi-Finals:
Malaysia 2-1 India
(3) Mohd Nafiizwan adnan bt (3) Harinderpal Singh
12-10,11-9,13-11(48m)
(1) Azlan Iskandar lost (1) Saurav Ghosal
11-2,8-11,2-11,4-11(51m)
(2) Ong Beng Hee bt (2) Siddharth Suchde
11-6,8-11,14-12,4-11,11-2(75m)
Pakistan 2-0 Kuwait
(3) Yasir Ali Butt bt (3) Salem F. Moahammad
11-9.11-4,12-10(27m)
(1) Aamir Atlas Khan bt (1) Abdulla Almezayen
11-8,6-11,15-13,11-1( 33m)
(2) Farhan Mehboob (2) Bader E. Alhosaini Dead Rubber
Mixed success for hosts in team
semis
Gautam Das
reports
It was mixed luck for India in the semi finals of the Team
events with the hosts women making the final with a facile
2-0 win over Korea, while Indian men played their hearts out
before going down gallantly to defending champions, Malaysia
1-2 in the respective semi finals in the team events of the
15th Asian Senior Squash championship here this evening.
In the other semi final, Hong Kong women dashed the hopes of
world number one Nicol David led defending champions
Malaysia by a 2-1 margin, while Malaysian men awaits winner
of match between last year finalists, Pakistan beat Kuwait
2-0 and play Malaysia .
With their morale high having defeated Hong Kong women in
the league phase yesterday, it remains to be seen whether
India can repeat their winning effort tomorrow in the final.
In today’s women semi final, Anaka Alankamony beat Kim Ga
Hye 11-8, 11-3, 11-8 (20minutes) and Joshna Chinappa scored
an easy win over Song Sun Mi at 11-2, 11-4, 11-8 (22min).
This is the second time in history that Indian women are
making the final after having lost their first appearance in
2002 to Malaysia. With their morale high having defeated
Hong Kong in the league phase yesterday, it remains to be
seen whether India can repeat their winning effort tomorrow
in the final.
In the men’s semi final, India’s Harinder Singh Pal Sandhu
went down fighting to Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 10-12, 9-11,
11-13 but Saurav Ghosal carried variety of shots in his
armour to dispose off reigning Asian individual champion and
top seeded Azlan Iskander of Malaysia 2-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-4
to give the required advantage for the hosts to make a
memorable entry in to the final. However, Malaysia Number
two and second seeded Ong Ben Hee got the better of
Siddharth Suchde 11-6, 8-11, 14-12, 4-11, 11-2 in a marathon
75 minutes duel in the deciding tie.
The highlight of the semi final matches today was India
Number One, Saurav Ghosal, world ranked 27, coming from
behind to create the major upset of the championship in
scalping top seed Azlan Iskander, who is ranked 18 in PSA,
strongest player in the region. Perhaps, this was Ghosal's
career best win possibly at home. Ghosal was unbelievably
brilliant in his aggressive methods after losing the first
game, which the Malaysian led at 8-0 before winning it at
11-2.
The transformation displayed by Ghosal in the next three
games proved his uptrend in the world circuit and his
performance should augur well in the ensuing Commonwealth
Games in Delhi this October.
Ghosal was not only in tremendous form in the reminder of
the match but also maintained his supremacy with an all
court attack, often coming up with dazzling straight drives
and superb drops after keeping the ball in play in rallies
against an experienced and highly rated star. With today's
win, Ghosal created ripples in the Malaysian ranks and in
the Asian region with his clinical and deserving victory. On
the whole, the performance of Indian men was of highest
standard.
In women semi final today, India fielded its junior star,
Anaka Alankamony in the first match against Korea’s third
seed, Kim Ga Hye and the Indian required just 20 minutes to
wrap up a deserving win to give the required thrust for her
senior mate, Joshna Chinappa to do the rest in the second
match. Anaka, despite her patchy performance in between
played superbly with some delectable drops and eye catching
long balls to score winners.
In the second match, Joshna stream-rolled her rival Song Sun
Mi with superior display in the first two games but the
Korean top seed showed some semblance of a fight in the
third. However, Joshan seemed to be complacent and committed
lot of unforced errors frequently and her first two games
dominance was curtailed. However, Joshna true to her
standing as ranked 31 in the world moved from 4-3 to 8-3 and
the closest that Song Sun Mi could catch the Indian was 8-7.
In the second semi finals, Nicol in her usual inimitable
style and was business like in her 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 win in
just 20 minutes against Hong Kong’s Rebacca Chiu but in the
next two games, Hong Kong players Joey Chan and Annie Au
turned the tables on the favourites to take sweet revenge
for their earlier losses in the title matches in the
championship for the last over six years.
Joey played remarkably well to get back her rhythm after
losing the close first game to Low Wee Wern but made amends
in the next three. Ratio of least unforced errors by Joey
Chan compared to Wern helped her maintain her lead in all
the games. The fourth game turned to be well fought out by
the rivals and like the earlier games, it also went neck to
neck initially but Joey Chan wriggled out of tight
situations to increase the margin to 8-3. Wern tried her
best to retrieve her position but could manage to come 5-9
before Joey Chan went on to take the next two points and the
match at 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 in 50 minutes.
There was greater pressure on Delia Arnold trailed 0-2 but
managed to win the third game. But Annie Au rose to a 4-0
lead in the fourth game. Here, Delia was much more
controlled in her shots and a forehand close to the front
wall and a drop from back court and two errors by Annie Au
helped Malaysian level the score. At 6-4, Annie Au, a south
paw, who underwent medical attention on her right wrist,
steadied her game so well and Delia was totally under
pressure and made hash of her chances in clanging the tin to
yield points. Annie Au won at 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7 in 60
minutes.
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06-May, Teams Day Two
Indian Women top pool B
World number 31 Joshna Chinappa’s heroics in beating
higher seeded Rebeca Chiu of Hong Kong (world No.18) 3-1 to
take sweet revenge of her loss in the individual event
helped India top Group-B with a clean slate and set up a
clash against Korea in the semi final of the team events of
15th Asian Squash Championship in progress here.
Chinappa was at her best today and her abilities in
containing the unforced errors stood out in her performance.
She was able to play her lengths much deeper and was
deceptive in her shots close to the front wall. Chinappa
also succeeded in her retrievals and some of her picks of
returns were unbelievable. Chiu on her part, was under
tremendous pressure after trailing 0-2.
In the morning league match, Chinappa led 2-0 and then went
on to beat Chiu at 11-4, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7 in 25 minutes and
then Dipika Pallikal settled scores over Annie Au for
her two successive losses in two previous events at this
same venue.
Pallikal, who maintained her supremacy right from the word
go won on straight games of 11-6, 11-4,11-8 in 33 minutes to
assure India a hard fought win over higher seeded Hong Kong.
In the deciding match, Anaka Alankamony fought gallantly
before going down to highly ranked Joey Chan at 11-3, 6-11,
8-11, 5-11 in 35 minutes.
"We're delighted with this victory," said National Coach
Cyrus Poncha. "Our girls were on top of their game, and
we hope for an equally good performance in the semis against
Korea tomorrow. If we make it to the finals in will be only
the second time ever, and the first time since 2002."
India's women, who lost to Hong Kong in the last edition,
have a fair chance of making the final as Korea is sixth
seeded here and the host women have a better rating than
their rivals. However, with world number one, Nicol David
staying back to help Malaysia to retain the title, it is
difficult for the other Continental teams to beat them, as
Nicol would be ably assisted by Delia Arnold and Low Wee
Wern. Malaysia take on Hong Kong in the semi final tomorrow
morning.
Later in the evening India's men, spear headed by Saurav
Ghosal, made sure of their progress to the last four
stages as India, after defeating China 2-0 in their last
league match this morning, beat a fighting Hong Kong with an
identical margin in the quarterfinal in the evening. Ghosal
faced off the challenge of Korea’s top player, Max Lee 11-7,
12-10, 11-6 in 35 minutes after Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu
put India in the lead with a clear cut 14-12, 11-2, 11-7
win over Dick Lau.
Earlier in the morning, Ghosal did not exert much before
beating Wang Junjie 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 and Sandhu got the
better of Shen Jiaqi 13-11, 11-4, 11-9.
Though India has a tough task ahead in their semi final
against defending champions Malaysia tomorrow, while
Pakistan take on Kuwait in the other match in Men's.
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Team Semi-Finals
Women:
Malaysia v Hong Kong
India v Korea
Men:
Malaysia v India
Pakistan v Kuwait
Quarter-Finals:
Malaysia 2-0 Korea
India 2-0 Hong Kong
Kuwait 2-0 Japan
Pakistan 2-0 Sri Lanka
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05-May, Team Event Day One:
MEN:
Sri lanka Bt Iran 2-1
Korea Bt Singapore 3-0
Japan Bt China 3-0
Kuwait BT Iraq 3-0
Hong Kong, China Bt Chinese Taipei 3-0
Malaysia Bt Iran 3-0
Pakistan Bt Korea 3-0
India Bt Japan 3-0
Iraq Bt Chinese Taipei 3-0
Kuwait bt Hong Kong 2-1
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Women:
Korea Bt Japan 2-1
Hong Kong Bt China 3-0
India Bt Sri lanka 3-0
Malaysia Bt Korea 3-0
Hong Kong Bt Sri lanka 3-0
India Bt China 3-0 |
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04-May, Day Four, Finals:
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [2] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
11/6, 11/7, 11/7 (24m)
[1] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt [3/4] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak)
11/8, 11/4, 3/0 rtd (30m) |
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Double Defence for Malaysia
Gautam Das reports
World Number One Nicol David of Malaysia retained her Asian
women Championship title for the whopping seventh time
dishing out a high quality game of Squash to beat Rebecca
Chiu of Hong Kong in straight games of 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 in
24 minutes.
 Later,
Azlan Iskandar defended the men’s title when Amir Atlas Khan
of Pakistan conceded trailing in the third game 0-3 due to
niggling pain from his right knee down to the ankle.
Iskandar won at 11-8, 11-4, 3-0 in 30 minutes.
Atlas Khan said that “I have been experiencing this problem
for over six months and back home the doctors were giving
different opinions. Next month, I am going to meet a doctor
in Germany. Hope, I become much fitter before the Common
Wealth Games”
It was a rarity to watch Nicol, such a worthy player to have
retained her world’s best status for the 46th month in
succession. Nicol was business like in her effort to clinch
the 23rd win against Chiu in head-to-head ratio and the
Malaysian had lost to her only once in the 2002 Asian Games.
 After
match over, Nicol said she dedicate this seventh title win
to her family. “My family has been supporting me ever since
I took to the game and I dedicate this title to my them. As
for today’s final, Chiu is also a strong her having been in
the circuit for long. I had to play bring in changes in my
game according to Chiu’s patter of play. I never wanted to
give her enough room to maneuver”.
“Title wins in championships like this always help keep the
momentum ahead of the world Open which is being held close
to the Commonwealth Games.
Both Nicol and Chiu were physically fitter and technically
sound but the Malaysian was tactically sound and had the
extra bit of intelligence and in fact showed sadism on
occasions when she played backhand cross court wrist-shots
to about 180 degrees from the left court to far right
extreme of the glass wall.
Endowed with so much of abilities, Nicol also gave away few
easy points whenever Chiu came up with forehand volley
smashes. In fact, Chiu succeed with winners on all occasions
with her volleys excepting once when she clanged the tin.
Nicol usually stuck in the back court and could have rushed
in to return but never attempted at all, perhaps not wanting
to give enough room for Chiu to grow in confidence. Chiu
also came up with many a winners, particularly her manner of
returning the ball in rallies and once in the first game she
came up with superb back hand cross court shot and two
forehand volley winners.
Having lost the first two games inside 12 minutes, Chiu
tried her best in the third game to gain her ground midway
third game after leading 3-0 initially. Here, brought in
variety and was excelling with her low back hand straight
drives from back court and went on to lead 9-7 and took the
next two points in her inimitable style.
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03-May, Day Three
Women's Semi-Finals:
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [9/16] Dipika Pallikal (Ind)
11/5, 11/5, 11/2 (23m)
[2] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg) bt [5/8] Joey Chan (Hkg)
11/7, 11/9, 5/11, 15/17, 11/4 (46m)
Men's Semi-Finals:
[1] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt [3/4] Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
11/5, 11/6, 11/5 (44m)
[3/4] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt [5/8] Yasir Butt (Pak)
11/6, 11/7, 11/0 (31m) |
Malaysian Double still on in Chennai
Gautam Das reports
Looking to win the Continental title for whopping seventh
time, World Number One Nicol David dished out an
impeccable error free game to make the final, beating a
fighting Dipika Pallikal of India 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 in the
semi final of the 15th Asian Squash Championship here this
evening.
Malaysians are just a step away from retaining both the
men's and women's titles, as Azlan Iskandar,
defending champion is taking on Aamir Atlas Khan of
Pakistan in the final, while David plays Rebecca Chiu
in the women's section tomorrow evening.
Iskandar outranks Ghosal
The semi final tie between India’s highest ranked Saurav
Ghosal, who has made great strides improving upon his
prowess in gaining uptrend for about three recent seasons in
the competitive world level to be placed at 27, went down
fighting to defending champion Iskandar (rank-18) of
Malaysia at 11-5, 11-6, 11-5.
Ghosal displayed superior play with variety of shots and
came up with winners with superb shot selections but the
more experienced Iskandar increased his accuracy in mixing
aggression. The rivals were on equal terms initially in all
the three games and midway through the games, Iskandar held
on to his superior display. However, Ghosal should be
credited for his fighting qualities and the manner in which
he rattled a senior pro like Iskandar before losing the
match.
In the men’s first semi final, Atlas Khan required just 31
minutes to dispose of his compatriot Yasir Butt 11-6, 11-7,
11-0.
Top seeds into Women's final
In the women's semi finals, Hong Kong’s highest ranked
player at 18 in WISPA had to exert every sinew to get the
better of her compatriot Joey Chan, an equally talented
player. Being down 0-2, Chan touched her rhythm in the third
and fourth and kept up the momentum to take the match to the
decider. Ultimately, Chiu won at 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 15-17,
11-4 in 46 minutes.
 Pallikal,
ranked 38 in the world, was striving hard to get to grips
against reigning champion David. The fact that Pallikal,
World Junior Number One, kept the world champion on number
of rallies but being forced to err by David. However,
Pallikal was not giving away easily to David and tried to
score from every chance that came her way.
As for the match, Pallikal led 3-0 in the first game and
once David assessed the strength of the Indian and also
understood her game plan, the Malaysian required just about
five minutes to clinch the game. Second game too saw some
equality amongst the rivals initially but David was mostly
error free. In the third Pallikal was nowhere in the picture
and her run was sealed beyond any hope as David won the game
yielding just two points.
Up and coming, Pallikal had words of praise from the world
champion, as David credited the Indian for having improved
her game since she met her in early March this year in the
Chennai Open.
“My assessment of Dipika is that she has made tremendous
strides and showing great improvement in short time. Seeing
her coming up well involving me in to few rallies, I decided
to increase my abilities in not giving Dipika much space in
the court to manoeuvre. She was not giving easy points to me
and made me work harder,” David said, adding “It is good to
have such young players from Asia showing strengths of
making big in the world level.”
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02-May, Day
Two:
Women's Quarter-Finals:
Nicol David (MAS)[1] bt Song Sun Mi (KOR)[9/16] 11-4 11-7
11-7 (24m)
Dipika Pallikal (IND)[9/16] bt Misaki Kobayashi (JPN)[9/16]
12-10 11-8 11-6 (32m)
Rebecca Chiu (HKG)[2] bt Joshna Chinappa (IND)[5/8] 11-5
11-13 11-7 11-6 (39m)
Joey Chan (HKG)[5/8] bt Delia Arnold (MAS)[3/4] 11-4 11-4
11-6 (28m)
Men's Quarter-Finals:
Azlan Iskandar (MAS)[1] bt Abdulla Almezayen (KUW)[9/16]
13-11 11-7 12-10 (50m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND)[3/4] bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK)[5/8]
11-7,11-1,11-6 (35m)
Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK)[3/4] bt Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)[5/8]
12-10 11-8 11-5 (35m)
Yasir Ali Butt (PAK)[5/8] bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS)[2] 10-12
11-8 11-8 11-9 (60m)
Men's Last 16:
Ong Beng Hee (MAS)[2] bt Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND)[9/16]
11-7 11-8 11-6 (32m)
Yasir Ali Butt (PAK)[5/8] bt Harinderpal Singh (IND)[9/16]
8-11 11-7 11-6 11-7 (38m)
Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)[5/8] bt Siddharth Suchde (IND)[9/16]
11-13 11-13 13-11 11-8 11-8 (106m)
Farhan Mehboob (PAK)[5/8] bt Ivan Yuen (MAS)[9/16] 9-11 11-6
11-8 11-8 (56m)
Abdulla Almezayen (KUW)[9/16] bt Max Lee (HKG)[5/8] 11-7
11-6 11-4 (27m)
Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK)[3/4] bt Dick Lau (HKG)[9/16] 11-5
11-6 12-10 (35m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND)[3/4] bt Waqar Mehboob (PAK)[9/16] 11-9
11-5 11-5 (36m)
Azlan Iskandar (MAS)[1] bt Anson Kwong (HKG)[9/16] 11-2 11-4
11-2 (25m)
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Pallikal
progresses but Ong ousted in Chennai
Gautam Das
reports
India’s junior number one, Dipika Pallikal displayed her
hold in making the women semi finals to keep the country’s
hopes alive along with her compatriot Saurav Ghosal in men
in the 15th Asian Squash Championship here at the Indian
Squash Academy this evening.
In her semi final tomorrow, Pallikal has a remote chance of
progressing to the summit being drawn to play world number
one and defending champion, Nicol David of Malaysia, while
Rebecca Chiu (Hong Kong) take on her compatriot Joey Chan in
the other match.
The men’s semi finals would be between Saurav Ghosal and
defending champion and top seeded Azlan Iskander of Malaysia
and Pakistanis Aamir Atlas Khan and Yasir Ali Butt(ranked
59), who created a major upset in a nerve wrecking encounter
getting the better of second seed Ong Beng Hee (ranked 19)
at 10-12, 11-8, 11-9. Atlas Khan defeated Nafizwan Adnan)
12-10, 11-8, 11-5.
Ghosal, who has been blowing hot during the last two
seasons, proved he was more potentially talented and
displayed variety in his shot selections. He was able to
bring up and down the pace of his returns for winners
against Pakistan’s Farhan Mehboob, who was looking to be a
mere tourist in today’s match.
However, credit should be given to Ghosal, who touched his
rhythm from 7-7 in the first game and then came from behind
to wrap-up the match in the third. Ghosal won at 11-7, 11-1,
11-6 in 35 minutes.
In the first men match, Iskandar had to bring in his
resources against a fighting Kuwaiti. Abdulla Almzayen, a
south paw was elegant in his stroke play and attracted
attention with his abilities to go in circles around
Iskandar to gain the momentum in both the first and third
games before going down at 11-13, 7-11, 10-12 in 50 minutes.
Earlier in the morning, the progress of three host players,
Siddharth Suchde, Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu and Ritwik
Bhattachrya was halted by higher ranked rivals. Sandhu went
down fighting to Yasir Ali Butt (Pak) 11-8, 7-11, 6-11,
7-11, while Bhattacharya list in straight games to second
seeded Ong Beng Hee (Malaysia) 7-11, 8-11, 6-11.
However, Suchde (ranked 80) was rather unlucky to have lost
after keeping his hopes alive with a 2-0 game lead. The
match went in to the decider as Malaysia’s Mohd Nafizwan
(rank 56) was able to win few crunch points answering his
rival with superb exhibition, both from front and back court
play. Nafizwan won at 11-13, 11-13, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8 in a
marathon 106 minutes.
Among today’s matches, India’s raising star, Pallikal was
cynosure of all eyes. Ranked 38, Pallikal needed 32 minutes
to beat the best of Misaki Kobayashi of Japan 12-10, 11-8,
11-6 and gave enough indications that she is on road to
surpass Chinappa in WISPA rankings to be the highest ranked
Indian player in the distaff side.
After 18-year-old Pallikal made her smooth passage to the
last four, Joshna Chinappa, ranked 31, failed to sustain the
onslaught of experienced Chiu (rank 18) in the Centre court.
Chiu won at 11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6 in 39 minutes. In the
other women matches, David of steamrolled Song Sun Mi of
Korea at 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 and Chan (ranked 30-seed 5/8))
scored a minor upset disposing of Malaysia’s Delia Arnold
(seed3-4) in straight games of 11-4, 11-4, 11-6.
In her quarterfinal today, Pallikal, for the second day in
succession was seen having the match on her side all through
after a tight first game, which she won on extra points.
Throughout the first game, the rivals were matching each
other perhaps to analysis each one’s strength.
Pallikal, who was crafty with her whipping forehand drives
and solid backhand, was focused and rarely messed up her
chances, excepting in the far end of the match. In fact,
Pallikal waited like a hawk for her prey in both the second
and third games, where trailed by a slender margin before
adjusting herself in vital hour to close the games. Perhaps,
she sensed victory on her assessment of the rival in her
ploy to come from behind to remain supreme.
In the first game, Pallikal was artistic in scoring the last
two points being 10-all with her wall to wall winners. In
the next two games also, Pallikal was trailing by low
margins. In the second, from 5-7, the
Indian made it 8-8 and then whipped Kobayashi for the game.
Third game was a roller coaster for Pallikal as from 3-4 she
rose to 10-4 before winning the match at 11-6 in 32 minutes.
On the other hand, the match on the centre court between
experienced Chiu and Chinappa was noteworthy as the latter
failed to cash in on the chances that came her way. Chiu saw
more of the ball in the third and fourth games, like in the
first and at times, played in a casual manner.
The closest that Chinappa could progress in the first game
was 2-7 before losing it at 5-11 but rose to a 4-0 lead in
the second. Chiu did fight back to be on level terms at 8-8
but Chinappa with delicate drops took two points to 10-8 and
messed up to take the game on serve. However, Chinappa,
managed to win the game. This was the only good patch of the
match for the Indian as Chinappa was forced to err on
numerous occasions to yield the match to Chiu. |
01 May, Day One:
Mixed success for Indians in Chennai
Gautam Das reports
In the men section, India’s highest ranked and lone seeded
player at third in this tournament, Saurav Ghosal (PSA 27),
Siddharth Suchde (80), veteran Ritwik Bhattacharya (113) and
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (90) have made the last sixteen.
Sandhu was slightly off colour today and did not have a
start to the championship to his liking as he was stretched
in the very first game which he won on extra points and the
same tempo continued in the evening too against a lower rung
Kuwaiti E.Alhosaini Bader, who played to his scheme of
keeping the ball in play. However, Sandhu wriggled out of
tough situations in the decider before winning it 8-11,
11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6.
Lone seeded Indian in the women section, Joshna Chinappa got
past Korean Eun Ok Park 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 in 23 minutes,
while Dipika Pallikal, who has been in good nick since
winning the WISPA Indian Challenger in Kolkata last month,
proved her mettle surviving a five game tussle in a marathon
65 minutes against Low Wee Wern of Malaysia. It was a
question of the fittest as the match meandered to the
decider. Here, Pallikal, who scored many eye-catching
winners in the match, brought in her best after being level
8-all before eventually winning the match at 10-12, 12-10,
11-7, 8-11, 11-8.
Tomorrow morning, eighth seeded Chinappa is slated to play
more experienced second seeded Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong,
while Pallikal has better chances of making the semi finals.
World number one Junior player Pallikal, who has improved
upon her WISPA ranking by five slots to 38 as on today’s
ranking list, takes on 68th ranked Misaki Kobayashi of
Japan. Semi final progress for Pallikal would put her
against top seeded Nicol David.
In the pre-quarterfinal matches tomorrow, Ghosal take on
Pakistan’s Waqar Mehboob, while Suchde fights Nafizwan Adnan
of Malaysia. Bhattacharya is expected to have a tough time
against second seeded Ong Beng Hee in the last eight stages.
Sandhu, who survived anxious moments before managing to
progress after a hard fought 3-2 in 65 minutes, now plays
Pakistan’s Yasir Ali Butt, who is ranked 5-8.
On a day when the higher ranked players progressed to the
second round without exerting themselves match, stiffer
competitions were witnessed in both the men’s
pre-quarterfinals and women’s quarterfinal matches.
World Number One David, considered a cinch to claim her
seventh individual title in succession was seen to be in her
elements in terms of fitness. David is one player who is way
ahead of others in the women section in the world and
winning the title at this Asian level should be a kinder
garden stuff for her. After winning her first match in 16
minutes against China’s unseeded Gu Jinyue, David made the
quarterfinals disposing of Elise Ng (9-16 seed) of Hong Kong
at 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.
However, the men’s section threw out lot of possibilities as
few top rung stars had to bring in their best midway their
matches as the rivals were showing signs of getting the
upper hand.
As for the hosts player, India fielded 17 in men and eight
in women and it was mixed luck for them as nine of the
them including Saurav Ghosal, world ranked 27 and Siddharth
Suchde (80) won their respective men’s first round matches
without much difficulty, excepting Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu
(ranked 90) managed to take the first game in a fast paced
tie on extra points before making the next grade. Vikas
Jangra, Deepak Mishra, Ramit Tandon, Vrishab Kotian, Naveen
Jangra and Kush Kumar failed to cross the first hurdle.
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Draws & Results
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