Top seed Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia dished out an impeccable error free game to clinch the Chennai Open PSA 2010 trophy when he beat second seed Jonathan Kemp of England in the Tamil Nadu Government sponsored squash championship here at the Indian Squash Academy this evening.

Ong defeated Kemp 14-12, 11-9, 11-9 in 47minutes and collected the trophy and winner’s cash prize of USD 3942.50 .

In the first game Kemp and Beng Hee were trading point for point but the Malaysian showed alacrity in mixing the pace of his shots. Kemp, who enjoys a fast paced game had difficulties in adjusting himself to the tactics of Ong.

30-year-old Ong, ranked 19 in the world, perhaps reserved his best and displayed his potential and finished the match with class.

Obviously, having played for two hours yesterday I wanted to be as positive as I could be. He is very talented, one of the most gifted, so I knew that it would be difficult.

A few decisions went my way, it was very close and maybe I was a little lucky, but I am really pleased with this win.



All credit to Beng Hee, he played really a really intelligent game. Very tight and though I was maybe a little unlucky not to have won a game which may have made a difference he played the big points better than me.

Nicol David, women's World Champion, made short work of Jenny Duncalf, the second seed from England, winning 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 in 25 minutes. Duncalf, who had beaten David in the pair's last two meetings, was unable to withstand the superior display of David.

Nicol kept her pinned to the back before playing aggressive drops to the front.

David received the WISPA Chennai Open 2010 trophy and became richer by USD 8550.

Jenny has been playing very well and I knew she would come out strong so I had to set my game up well. I was pleased to have managed it.

When I came here for the Asian Juniors squash in India was picking up, and now, nearly ten years later there is this amazing facility and some top men and women players. All credit to you all, it has been fantastic.



From the first rally when I smacked the tin, from there I was making too many errors. I don't know why, I just felt frustrated with myself for most of the match, but she played very consistently.

"We were absolutely delighted that we had the best women players that Chennai has ever seen, and some top guys too. These women stars were so supportive and easy to deal with and an inspiration to our girls.
"
And as a Malaysian I was so pleased to see a double by Nicol & Beng Hee, along with the media exposure for our Saurav Ghosal and the event too."


Tournament Director

The WISPA Chennai Open 2010 semi finals will be between World Champion and top seed, Nicol David and Kasey Brown (7th-Aus) and Jenny Duncalf (2nd-Eng) versus France's Camille Serme.

While three of the four women matches went on according to predictions with higher seeded players progressing to the semi-finals, the match between Brown and direct entrant Jaclyn Hawkes (ranked 17th-Nzl) turned out to be evenly matched until in the decider the Aussie managed to improve from a 4-1 situation to win the game.

The upset came when Serme, the sixth seed, beat former world number one Rachael Grinham, seeded three, in four games for one of the best wins of her career.

As for Nicol David’s performance, she trailed 2-6 in the third game and had to exert every sinew to arrest the upper hand of Mexican Samantha Teran, who was seen returning every ball with finesse. Once, David upped herself to the challenge, the top seed had her own felicity to run up to an easy win.
  

"I started alright and he was slow off the block perhaps because of the long match that he played yesterday. I took advantage to win the first two games and take a 2-0 lead. In the third game, he started getting more of his shots, pushed his body hard and fought even as I didn't take my opportunities. The fourth game was a scramble and I'm happy to have won the game for a 3-1 score.

"Jon and I train together in England and have practised together quite a bit. We generally have had good games in practise and it will be a hard match tomorrow. I definitely need to play better than I did today and have to be sharper with my short game."

The Chennai Open squash Championships kicked off at the Indian Squash Academy with 13 qualifying matches in the PSA & WISPA events. All results went according to seeding except Gaurav Nandrajog, world ranked 174, upstaged Malaysian Kamran Khan ranked 48 places higher.

Gaurav started the match playing basic squash keeping the ball in play. This suited Kamran and he capitalized taking a 2-1 lead. Gaurav had to dig deep and clawed his way back playing aggressive in the fourth and fifth game.

Gaurav also started to move Kamran to the front much more and this had a telling effect on Kamran as he stared making mistakes. At match point Gaurav won the point by virtue of a stroke.

In all five Indian men and two Indian women advanced into the final qualifying round. 

Among the women, Dipika Pallikal had it easy against Frenchwoman Coline Aumard, winning 11-2, 11-8, 11-8. With Aumard committing frequent unforced errors, anguished groans following each clang of ball against tin, Pallikal wasn't really pushed.  The Hindu

Day one report from The Hindu

WISPA goes Gold in Chennai

In preparation for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, TNSRA with support from the Tamil Nadu Government and SDAT will be hosting a USD53,000 Women’s Professional tournament and a USD25,000 Men’s Professional tournament at the Indian Squash Academy. This will be followed by the 1st USD15,000 Chennai Open Doubles championships.

SRFI/TNSRA are indeed indebted to the Tamilnadu government and the SDAT for their financial support without which this event would not be possible. These tournaments provide an ideal platform for both our elite players as well as our young aspirants, to show case their talents. It also is an excellent preparation for the forthcoming Asian senior championships in India in may 2010.

The women’s event has attracted 12 of the top 20 players in the world including World Number One Nicol David of Malaysia, who has so far won 40 WISPA titles since turning professional in 2000. The qualification event, which will be played on the 2nd and 3rd will feature players ranked between 20 to 52. The attached list of entries will provide the details of names and their rankings in both WISPA and PSA events.
National Champion Joshna Chinappa has been given a wildcard.

As for the PSA event, Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia who is currently ranked 19 in the world has been given top billing. India’s Saurav Ghosal ranked 30 in the world has found his rightful place in the main draw whilst National junior Ramit Tandon has been given the wildcard.

Other National players, Siddharth Suchde (97), Harinder Pal (108), Ritwik Bhattacharya (116) Naresh Kumar (153) Gaurav Nandrajog (174), Ravi Dixit (206), Abhishek Pradhan (292), Sandeep Jangra (369) and Vikas Jangra will play in the qualifying event.

The Indian Squash Academy will also be celebrating its 10th year anniversary and twenty years of TNSRA during the first week of March in conjunction with playing host to these two prestigious events sponsored by the TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT.
 
The events will be inaugurated on March 4, 2010 at 2000hrs at the Hotel Taj Mount Road, Chennai by the Chief Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu Shri. . K. S. Sripathi. The Secretary Sports to Government of Tamil Nadu, Shri. D. Sarangi will release a souvenir on the 10years of the ISA.
   

From DNA India