The Hindu : Sport / Squash : Saurav, Joshna corner glory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 08, 2004

Sport

Sport - Squash

Saurav, Joshna corner glory

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 7. Saurav Ghosal made an emphatic announcement of his arrival in the men's competition while Joshna Chinappa added one more title to her collection as the open events in the senior National squash championship ended on Tuesday underscoring a complete Tamil Nadu domination.

What led to these happy tidings was the win of Bala Murugan also in the professional's section to help the State sweep all the three titles at stake in the senior section.

First the `clash' of the evening and even if the sparkle was missed the absorbing 80-minute tussle slowly but surely established Saurav's ascendancy over the reigning champion Ritwik Bhattacharya. It must be said that Ritwik was not at his physical best, having just come back from a lay off but that did not take away anything from the merit of Saurav's grand show.

Speed is the key

Speed is what Saurav thrives on and expectedly Ritwik decided to deny his younger rival that. Trying to control the pace and mixing drops, the defending champion had thought of working on two aspects — conserve his energy and taunt Saurav into submission.

But then the Tamil Nadu lad, currently the best junior even in Asia, knows a thing or two on the demands of a title-round clash. Saurav picked up the gauntlet and demonstrated his ability in countering his rival's plan. The admiring reflexes to pick the gentle drops and with the pounce for the stiff drives, Saurav was able to get Ritwik stretching. But Ritwik hit back well, picked the second game and led 7-2 in the next. A few calls from the referee upset Saurav but it did not disturb his focus.

The resurgence was dramatic. Throwing in everything and getting a few cross drives and drops to grab points, Saurav clawed back and the rest, as they say, was history. A drained Ritwik was a ghost of his earlier self in the fourth game and the defeat came soon after.

Joshna's fourth title

Joshna earlier swept aside the 14-year-old Anvesha Reddy in 28 minutes to make it her fourth national title and certainly this must have been her easiest picking. The gulf was big between the two players. Understandable, considering Joshna's experience, exploits and current stature as Asia's best.

In the professionals final, Bala Murugan avenged his defeat to Mahesh Verma last year with a straight-game victory.

The inter-State competitions get underway on Wednesday.

The results (finals):

Men: Saurav Ghosal (TN) bt Ritwik Bhattacharya (ND) 9-4, 6-9, 9-7, 9-2.

Women: Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt V. Anvesha Reddy (TN) 9-3, 9-0, 9-2.

Professionals: Bala Murugan (TN) bt Mahesh Verma (Mah) 9-5, 9-3, 9-0.

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