Sport - Squash   

Saurav-Ritwik final

By Our Sports Reporter

Ritwik Bhattacharya (right) of Delhi makes a return against Sahil Vora of Maharastra in the Senior National squash championship in Kolkata on Saturday.

KOLKATA NOV. 29. Second seeded Saurav Ghosal of Tamil Nadu swept aside third seeded Gaurav Nandrajog of Delhi in the men's singles semifinals at the Calcutta Racket Club here on Saturday. Ghosal will meet top-seeded Ritwik Bhattacharya of Delhi in the final on Sunday.

The title clash will be interesting as it will see clash of youth and experience as the two top men of Indian squash match wits for the highest National honour in the sport. While Bhattacharya, a former champion, will strive to regain the title, Ghosal will be making his bid to add the men's title to the under-19 title he won few days back.

Bhattacharya put forth an authoritative show against fourth seeded Sahil Vora of Maharashtra and won the match in just 28 minutes conceeding only five points. Ghosal, meeting a more experienced Nandrajog, had to work hard for his points. He displayed a variety of strokes and came up with spectacular winners for a 9-7, 9-4, 9-3 win in 53 minutes.

It now remains to be seen whether Ghosal, who lost to Bhattacharya in a four-game match in the inter-State final, avenges his loss or that the country's top ranked player re-emphasizes his authority.

In the women's section, it will be an all-Tamil Nadu final with the two top seeds Joshna Chinappa and Sonali Philip meeting to decide the title.

Chinappa, the junior champion and also the top ranked women in the country, is favoured to win her maiden women's crown as she won her third round match conceding just one point against local challenger Neha Rathi.

Philip, ranked eighth in the country, lost the first game before winning her semifinal match against Surbhi Mishra of Rajasthan in four games.

The results (prefix denotes seedings):

Men's (semifinals): 1-Ritwik Bhattacharya (Del) bt 4-Sahil Vora (Mah) 9-3, 9-0, 9-2; 2-Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt 3-Gaurav Nandrajog (Del) 9-7, 9-4, 9-3.

Women (semifinals): 1-Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Neha Rathi (Ben) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0; 2-Sonali Philip (TN) bt Surbhi Mishra (Raj) 8-10, 9-4, 9-2, 9-6.

Women (quarterfinals): Surbhi bt Pragya Bajoria (Ben) 9-2, 9-4, 9-3; Sonali bt Snehal Bathwal (Ben) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2.

Professionals (semifinals): Bala Murugan (TN) bt Vijay M. Sonavane (Mah) 9-0, 9-6, 9-0; Mahesh Verma (Mah) bt Dalip Tripathi (Ben) 9-6, 9-3, 9-0.

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