WJM – Day 3

Vikram Malhotra is known for his flair and stylish play and when on song he plays absolutely brilliant squash. This is exactly what happened today in the pre-quarterfinal against the no. 2 seed and tournament favourite Mohd. El Shorbagy of Egypt. Vikram had Shorbagy on his back foot on several occasions, in fact Vikram had a 5-0 lead in the first game. Shorbagy know for his aggressive style of play did not relent and fought back to take the first game 9-7. Vikram continued with a game that comprised deception, floating lobs, medium paced drives and overhead smashes in to the front corners and every time when it appeared that Vikram was on his way to win the game, Shorbagy hung on to take it away from the grasp of Vikram. This happened in all the 3 games as Vikram went down fighting 9-7, 9-7, 9-7 34m. Earlier, in the round of 32, Vikram defeated Petrucci Camille from France fairly easily 9-3, 9-7, 9-1 35m while Aditya Jagtap who has had an impressive run so far and one who eligible for the World Juniors in 2 years could not match up with his more experienced opponent seeded 9/16 Herik Mustonen from Finland going down 0-9, 0-9, 6-9 in 32m.

The players have a few days off and are gearing up for the team championships which commences on august 2, 2008.

WJM – Day 2

Vikram and Aditya move into the next round.

Vikram cruised to the round of 32 after defeating young Fahad B. Al-Ramezy from Kuwait and Joshua Larkin from Australia in straight games. Vikram had no problems in both matches and will be up against Petrucci Camille from France tomorrow.

Aditya too joined Vikram in the round of 32 but had to dig deep to overcome a determined Frederick Reid from Canada who used his volleys and drops to telling effect against the lanky Aditya who gave every ounce of his energy.

World Junior Squash Championships – Day1

A good start to Day 1 for the Indian contingent at the 15th World Junior Squash Championships being held at Zurich, Switzerland.

Egypt Seeded To Retain World Junior Title

Issued by Howard Harding on behalf of WSF
 
Egypt are seeded to retain their title in the 2008 World Junior Men’s Team Squash Championship in Switzerland according to the interim seedings revealed by the World Squash Federation.

Malaysian Open (PSA & WISPA)

Saurav came through two qualifying rounds and won his first round match in straight games against 8th seeded Eric Galvex from Mexico before losing to top seeded Wael El Hindi from Egypt in the quarterfinals 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (54m).

Ritwik & Dipika lost in the qulification round.

Saurav & Annie lift Chennai Open titles

Men’s final:
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [2] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (49min)

Women’s final:
[5] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [4] Annie Au (HKG) 9-3, 10-8, 10-8 (44min)

Saurav Ghosal claimed his 3rd PSA title defeating Ritwik Bhattacharya in four games. The match was an excellent display of rally finishing. Ritwik played a tight first game and this showed in his finishing the game in a quick 10 min 11-7. The second game set the tone for the rest of the match … unforced errors on Ritwik’s end allowed Saurav to level the match. The next couple of games saw Saurav gliding over the court and the ‘human rubber band’ was able to run down practically every ball to take control of the third game as well.

The 4th game saw Saurav with a runaway 5-1 lead, and though Ritwik played some excellent points, he wasn’t in a position to wrest the momentum away from Saurav. The match ended tamely though, with a stroke being awarded to Saurav to retain the Chennai Open crown won last year.

Dipika searching for her 1st WISPA tour title struggled at the onset with Annie’s drop – drive game. In the 2nd Dipika squandered her 8-0 lead going down to Annie 10-8. In the 3rd Annie played aggressive and ran to a 7-2 lead, Dipika fought hard and in 1 hand was serving for the game after winning 7 points to lead 8-7. In the final twist Annie won the 3rd game 10-8. A remarkable achievement however by Dipika to get to the final and Overall a great event for Indian Squash.

3 Indian’s in Finals

Men’s semi-finals:
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [3] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 10-12, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 (84m)
[2] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt [4] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 10-12, 7-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8 (73m)

Women’s semi-finals:
[5] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [3] Orla Noom (NED) 10-8, 7-9, 9-5, 9-1 (49m)
[4] Annie Au (HKG) bt [2] Joshna Chinappa (IND) 10-9, 9-1, 5-9, 10-9 (67m)

Dipika marches out Mak !!

Dipika Pallikal played a flawless match to enter the semi finals at the ICL Chennai Open defeating top seed and world no. 33 Christina Mak from Hong Kong. A close first game but from there on Dipika looked superior and took full control of the match with her aggression.

Harry & Anwesha reach the quarters

Local girl Anwesha Reddy reaches her first quarterfinal in the $8000 event at the ICL Chennai Open 2008. Anwesha defeated Russian, Irian Assal in four games.

Ravi makes PSA main draw

Local trainee at the ICL Squash Academy Ravi Dixit won his 2 qualifying rounds here in Chennai at the 6th ICL to reach the main draw of the $10,000 6th ICL Chennai Chennai Open. Ravi defeated compatriot Karan Malik in the morning and then defeated world ranked 198 Kristian Olesen from Denmark in four games.