Sport - Squash   

A memorable day for Heather

By S.R. Suryanarayan

England's Mark Heather, who won the Chennai Open squash tournament on Sunday. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI DEC. 7. For 26-year-old Mark Heather the trip to India could not have been more memorable. It was his first visit and the Englishman earned his maiden title when he beat No. 1 seed Mike Corren in the PSA super satellite Chennai Open final at the TNSRA court on Sunday.

In the professional circuit at the age of 19 but thereafter taken brief breaks in between because of injuries, Heather, who hails from Portsmouth in England, does not remember how many tournaments he had played. "I know I have played several finals", he said with a smile.

Finally he broke the barrier he had long been waiting for. May be he would have loved to have taken the honours convincingly and not on a platter as it were, after his Australian opponent lost his rhythm midway and finally conceded the tie in the fourth game when trailing 1-6 and 1-2 down in game scores.

Later Corren said that he was feeling drained out after a tummy upset. Indeed he was stretched by Heather. "I knew the best way to keep Corren in check was by making him twist and turn with variations in returns", Heather said. Though all this did not work initially when Corren's forehand shots were working. The soft drops or the nicks at the corners were Corren's strength and that kept him ahead in the first game. Heather too was inconsistent in his returns.

The transformation came from the second game when Heather jacked up pace and also tightened his volleys. A series of errors by Corren helped Heather jump ahead and the Englishman never looked back. The turning point came in the third game with the score reading 5-0 in Heather's favour.

Corren was upset over a referee's call, expecting a `stroke' in his favour instead of the `let' call, threw his racket in a flash for which referee Cyrus Poncha penalised him with a conduct stroke. From there Corren went on a self-destructive mode, once striking the ball almost to the roof but more often hitting the tin.

Mr. Abdullah Sani Karim, Vice-President, WSF, gave away the prizes.

The results (final): Mark Heather (Eng) bt Mike Corren (Aus) 11-15, 15-12, 15-4, 6-1 concd.; Natalia grand final: Boys: Under-19: Saurav Ghosal bt Gaurav Nandrajog 9-1, 9-3, 10-9; Under-17: Sandeep Jangra bt A. Parthiban 9-5, 10-8, 1-9, 6-9, 9-6; Under-15: Harinderpal Singh bt Parth Sharma (Raj) 9-2, 9-6, 9-10, 9-3; Under-13: Ravi Dixit (Del) bt Anuj Chauhan (Mah) 9-3, 9-2, 9-0; Under-11: Tarun Nambiar (Mah) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (Mah) 9-5, 9-3, 9-2.; Girls: Under-19: Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt Sonali Philip (TN) 9-4, 9-7, 9-6; Under-15: Dipika Pallilkal (TN) bt Shibani Philip (TBN) 4-9, 9-2, 9-0, 9-7; Under-11: Ankita Sharma (Mah) bt Shruti Dugar (TN) 9-1, 9-0, 10-9.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Cricket

• Ganguly conjures up a virtuoso performance
• A wonderful batting display
• Captain thrilled with his effort
• Adams dropped for first Test
• India drubs New Zealand
• Shoddy batting by India 'A'
• Statistical highlights
  
  Football
  
• World Cup qualifiers: India in same group as Japan
  
  Racing : Motor
  
• Kremer takes APRC title
  
  Squash
  
• A memorable day for Heather
  
  

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu