|
|
Indian Challenger 2011
19-23 Apr, $16k |
|
|
23-Apr:
Urquhart denies Chinappa to take
Chennai Challenger title
Gautam Das reports
 Home
favorite Joshna Chinappa nursed her hopes of winning the sixth title
but succumbed to higher rated Donna Urquhart of Australia 3-1
in the 2011 season's first WISPA Squash Championship at the Indian
Squash Academy Courts here this evening.
Word number 16 and top seeded Urquhart won the match at 7-11, 11-6,
11-6, 11-4 in 39 minutes.
As for the final encounter today, Joshna, who went in top the lead
winning the first game with telling strokes and decisive drives and
held on to her sizeable lead before clinching the game at 11-7. Then
on, Joshna remained pedestrian as the Aussie made sure with her
variety of strokes to wrap up the match with confidence display in
her three games win.
It was a case of Urquhart, who lost to Joshna in an NSC 3
championship in 2009, analyzing the strengths of the Indian star in
the first game and swiftly got to her rhythm and rarely kept Joshna
in to rallies. With such commanding game plan, Urquhart was seen to
be much relaxed and was not unduly worried even when Joshna was
narrowing the lead on couple of times in the match.
 On
the other hand, Joshna was in two minds in her approach shots in
almost all the three games but was brilliant at times, especially in
her shots close to the walls. Perhaps, Joshna lacked ideas to
counter and rarely answered the call of fight and the sparse home
crowd was obviously disappointed by her performance.
Later, Urquhart complimented Joshna as a talented player and he had
to change gears. "After losing the first game, I tightened up my
serves as Joshna was able to return with elan. I am happy that most
often I succeeded with my double boasts and was able to push to the
corner to score points. Mainly, I concentrated on my game instead of
trying to counter Joshna today", she said.
|
|
 Indian
Challenger 2011
19-23 Apr, $16k |
Round One
20 Apr 16.00-17-30 |
Quarters
21 Apr |
Semis
22 Apr |
Final
23 Apr |
[1] Donna Urquhart (Aus)
11/9 11/3 17/15(32m)
Anaka Alankmony (Ind) |
[1] Donna Urquhart
11/8 14/12 11/6 (34m) .
[7] Tenille Swartz |
[1] Donna Urquhart
8/11 11/4 11/5 11/6 (39m)
[3] Lisa Camilleri |
[1] Donna Urquhart
7/11, 11/6, 11/6,
11/4 (39m)
[4] Joshna Chinappa |
[7] Tenille Swartz (Rsa)
11/3 11/6 11/3(19m)
[Q] Lakshya Ragavendran (Ind) |
[3] Lisa Camilleri (Aus)
11/4 11/3 11/6(19m)
Laura Pomportes (Fra) |
[3] Lisa Camilleri
11/9 11/9 11/4 (34m)
[5] Siti Munirah Jusoh |
[5] Siti Munirah Jusoh (Mas)
7/11 11/9 8/11 11/6 11/2 (44m)
[Q] Aparajitha Balamurukan (Ind) |
Sarah Cardwell (Aus)
11/8 11/5 11/7(29m)
[6] Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn) |
[6] Misaki Kobayashi
11/4 11/5 11/6 (25m)
[4] Joshna Chinappa |
[4] Joshna Chinappa
6/11 11/9 11/6 6/11 11/6 (60m)
[2] Dipika Pallikal |
Olga Ertlova (Cze)
11/9 11/3 11/5 (30m)
[4] Joshna Chinappa (Ind) |
Adel Weir-Nunan (Rsa)
11/4 11/6 11/3(18m)
[8] Melody Francis (Aus) |
[8] Melody Francis
11/6 11/5 11/6 (27m)
[2] Dipika Pallikal |
Siyoli Waters (Rsa)
11/7 11/7 8/11 11/0 (38m)
[2] Dipika Pallikal (Ind) |
Qualifying Finals:
Aparajitha Balamurukan (Ind)
bt Mayuri Namasivayam (Ind) 11/7,
11/3, 11/3 (25m)
Lakshya Ragavendran (Ind) bt Sai Meera (Ind)
7/11, 11/8, 1/11, 11/7, 11/5 (47m)
Round One:
Mayuri Namasivayam (Ind) bt Sruthi Lakshmi (Ind)
11/4, 11/5, 8/11, 11/7 (40m)
|
22-Apr:
Donna & Joshna to contest Chennai Final
Gautam Das reports
 India’s
talented Joshna Chinappa put paid to the aspirations of her
compatriot and highly ranked Dipika Pallikal to score a 3-2
win in the semi final of the 2011 season’s first WISPA Challenger
Squash championship here this evening.
After top seeded Australian Donna Urquhart dropped the first
game to win the next three over third seeded Lisa Camilleri,
also of Australia, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, the Indians took to the
centre court, where Dipika, world ranked 25 to Joshna’s 36, belied
the expectations of her supporters as she failed to raise her game
to required levels. Joshna, who was patient and slugged it out for
opportunities, won at 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6 a marathon 60
minutes game.
Both Chinappa and Pallikal, knowing their strengths well, were
playing cautiously in the beginning and waited for their chances to
gain points. However, Dipika was prominent in raising her game from
a 3-all position in the first game and took five points in a row,
before Joshna made it 4-8 and then scored two winners with her front
court play. After couple of hand outs, Dipika went on to serve and
clinched the vital lead 1-0.
Joshna, aiming for winning her sixth WISPA title, a second in her
home country, was at her best in the second. Though Joshna trailed
by two points at 3-5, she kept her cool in exhibiting variety and
displayed tremendous amount of improvement in her shot selections.
But Dipika, the highest ranked Indian player on WISPA, was not
giving way easily and matched her senior mate in leveling the score
twice at 6-all and 9-all with telling returns. However, Joshna, the
more experienced player on the circuit, had little difficulty in
clinching the next two points for the game.
The third also went on similar lines of the first game and the
rivals were going neck and neck. At times Dipika was rather casual
in her approach and failed in concentration midway the game but,
Joshna to her credit, displayed her wares in great measure excelling
with her boasts and front court play. From 5-3, Joshna steadily
scored to lead 10-6 before winning the game for a 2-1 score.
But Dipika was perhaps waiting for the moment to show her
superiority as the fourth game started. Dipika had her moments of
positive play and in the manner in which she consistently attacked
and had Joshna pinned to the back court was noteworthy. Dipika led
3-0 initially and then rode on successfully and served for the game
at 10-4. Here, Dipika was perhaps under pressure and this helped
Joshna to save two game points before losing the game at 6-11.
In the decider, both were matching each other with drops and playing
to the glass walls. However, Joshna outwitted Dipika a number of
times to take her score to 7-3 and then 8-4. Here Joshna had to
exert her sinew and went on to win the match.
An elated Chinappa gave full credit to Pallikal for her rise in
standards.
 “I
had prepared for the match mentally because Dipika has been playing
well on the circuit. In fact, she had defeated higher ranked players
with whom I had struggled. Today also, Dipika played well but I did
not give her any opportunity to play shots, which is her strong
point. I needed to go for winners early enough before being dragged
on rallies, which I was able to succeeded.
“I have shown improvement in my game compared to 2008 and 2009
seasons. The thing that made me able to beat Dipika today was I had
known that she tends to error if I maintained my consistency. She is
a tough rival and at times her strokes are brilliant. I hope to
maintain my form for winning the title tomorrow.”
 |
|
Aussie/Indian Final assured in Chennai
Gautam Das reports
An Indian is assured of an entry to the final of the 2011 season’s
first WISPA Challenger series as Joshna Chinappa and
Dipika Pallikal are to figure in the semi final tomorrow after
they won their respective matches with great ease this evening at
the Indian Squash Academy here.
The other semi final will be between Australians Donna Urquhart,
top seed, and third seeded Lisa Camilleri.
Second seeded Dipika was speaking with her racquet with her
immaculate mixture of pace and delicate drop shots both from the “T”
and close to the wall. Her Australian rival Melody Francis was quite
often remained a spectator as Dipika translated her game for a
straight forward win 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 in 27 minutes.
Joshna, seeded fourth, was nonetheless different to her junior
country mate Dipika in her clinically achieved straight games
victory over sixth seeded Misaki Kobayashi at 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 in 25
minutes. Joshna’s shot selections were utterly perfect as she rose
to a sizeable lead in all her three games. Encouraged by her
touching the required rhythm Joshna maintained further in the next
two games too. In the second and third games, Joshna had about five
points lead and won the match at a short time than expected.
In the match between Urquhart and unseeded Tenille Swartz of South
Africa, the latter was patchy though she came up with some
exhilarating shots, especially in the second game. Tenille who
failed miserably with easy drop shots and hit the tin most often to
yield points was on a game ball up in the second game but muffed
with her chance. From there, Donna never looked back before winning
the match at 11-8, 14-12, 11-6 in 34 minutes.
It was an easy affair for Camilleri against Malaysia’s Siti Murnirah
(fifth seed), who lacked consistency throughout the match. On the
other hand Lisa was seen pout in use her superb retrieving abilities
of the ball to gain the momentum before winning at 11-9, 11-9, 11-4
in 34 minutes.
|
|
|
|
Round One in Chennai
Indian top stars Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa progressed to
the quarterfinals on a day when all eight seeds took their appointed
places in the last eight while hosts’ qualifiers Aparajitha
Balamurugan and Lakshya Ragavendran bite the dust in the season’s
first WISPA Indian Squash Challenger series here today at the Indian
Squash Academy.
Second seeded Dipika, world ranked 23, was forced to drop a game
before winning against Siyali Waters of South Africa 11-7, 11-7,
8-11, 11-0 in 38 minutes, while Joshana (4th seed- world ranked 32)
was in total control executing her shots to perfection in straight
games victory over Czech Olga Ertlova at 11-9, 11-3, 11-5 in 30
minutes.
Dipika take on eighth seeded Melody Francis of Australia while
Joshna plays sixth seed Misaki Kobayashi in the quarterfinal
tomorrow.
However, the hosts’ interest centered around the match between top
seed Donna Urquhart of Australia and a promising Indian school girl,
Anaka Alankamony in the centre court. For her part, Anaka was not
overawed playing the top seed but had her share of appreciation from
the sparse crowd and displayed excellent returns to gain points,
especially in the third game. In all counts, it was a close match
where in Donna had to bring in her experience to get the better of
Anaka, who lost the first two at 9-11, 3-11 but the manner in which
she held control over a higher ranked player caught the eye of
everyone. On few occasions, Anaka had the set score in the third
game (13-12, 14-13) but could not withstand the pressure brought
about by Donna.
As for the other Indian stars, Aparajitha and Lashya, who fought
their way beating higher ranked overseas stars in the qualifying
event yesterday made their exit. But, Aparajitha’s match against
fifth seed Siti Munirah of Malaysia generated great interest as the
Indian was lead with a game score of 2-1 mid way the match.
Aparajitha was in total command over the proceedings in the first
game which she wrapped up in quick time (11-7) but the Malaysian
came back strongly in the second at 11-9. After Aparajitha took the
third at 11-8, Siti, who found her rhythm had little difficulty in
clinching the next two games at 11-2, 11-6 in the 44 minutes tie.
|
Qualifying complete in Chennai
The Squash Rackets federation of India along with Tamil Nadu Squash
Rackets Association will be conducting its first WISPA Event for
2011being held at Indian Squash Academy, Chennai from 19 -23 April
2011.
The main draw starts from 20th April featuring world no.16 Donna
Urquhart of Australia, Indian’s Dipika Pallikal and
Joshna Chinappa, ranked world no.25 and 36 respectively.
The final round of qualifying witnessed top seed Aparajitha
Balamurukan moving into the main draw defeating Mayuri
Namasivaysam 11-7 11-3 11-3 in 25 mins. Lakshya Ragavendran
defeated Sai Meera in a very exciting match. Sai Meera won the first
game in 11-7 and however lost the second 8-11. Sai Meera came back
very strongly in third game beating her opponent 11-1. But the U15
National champion Lakshya came back well and beat Sai Meera in the
next two games 7-11 11-8 1-11 11-7 11-5.
Lakshya playes Tenille Swartz and Aparajitha plays Siti Munirah in
the main draw.
|
|
|
