The Hindu : Sport / Squash : Arcucci, Ghosal advance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 22, 2004

Sport

Sport - Squash

Arcucci, Ghosal advance

By S.R. Suryanarayan

CHENNAI, JULY 21. Top seed Frenchman Jean-Michel Arcucci taught the Indian junior A. Parthiban a lesson while Saurav Ghosal showed Paul David Johnson of Wales why he is so highly rated. Two quality exhibitions set the tone for the pre-quarterfinal matches in the main draw of the Chennai-ICL Open, a super Satellite squash tournament at the TNSRA courts on Wednesday.

Arcucci used Parthiban's strength to his advantage. Realising that his young rival had the energy to spend, the experienced French player controlled the exchanges with minimum of stretching but to maximum effect. Switching the ball from one flank to other with a deceptive flick of the wrist, Arcucci kept Parthiban moving around, keeping him guessing and, as he wanted, caught him short of the ball or forced him to crash his returns into the tin. Not once did Arcucci look in discomfort as he sailed through.

Ghosal, the national junior champion did not have it that easy, for his big built rival showed the virtues of anticipation. Matching the Indian in keeping the ball just above the tin, Johnson did make the progress neck and neck to start with. But where Ghosal can be different is in his ability to jack up pace and, as he showed, in his choice of strokes. Using the boast cleverly he more than once caught Johnson on the wrong foot. Added to that was the soft drop volleys that at times found the nick to kill the bounce of the ball.

Clearly showing the fruits of his systematic training at the ICL academy, Ghosal never let the pace drop even as he tuned his game to a nicety as the contest wore on. In three games and 34 minutes he had finished his task to earn a nod of approval from the Consultant Coach Maj. (R) S. Maniam, the man who kept a close scrutiny on his ward's performance.

Later in the day, showing the right mix of resilience and aggression, another Indian Siddarth Suchde, playing on the outside court, edged out seventh seed Mohamed Ismail of Egypt in four games.

The results (pre-quarterfinals):

Ahmed Hamza (Egy) bt Gaurav Nandrajog 15-8, 15-2, 15-8; Jean-Michel Arcucci (Fra) bt A. Parthiban (Ind) 15-2, 15-8, 15-6; Sherif Kamel (Egy) bt Mohamed Elkeiy (Egy) 15-9, 15-17, 15-5, 15-4; Amr Mansi (Egy) bt Balamurugan (Ind) 15-10, 15-9, 15-12; Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Paul David Johnson (Wal) 15-11, 15-4, 15-8; Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Vikas Jangra (Ind) 15-11, 15-10, 15-8; Siddarth Suchde (Ind) bt Mohamed Ismail (Egy) 15-11, 14-17, 15-11, 15-4; Mohamed Essam A Hafiz (Qat) bt Supreet Singh (Ind) 15-8, 15-11, 15-11.

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