The Hindu : Sport / Squash : Ritwik Bhattacharya enters main draw

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Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005

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Sport - Squash

Ritwik Bhattacharya enters main draw

KOLKATA: : Former National champion Ritwik Bhattacharya progressed to the main draw beating compatriot Supreet Singh in the final round of the qualifiers of two-star PSA Kolkata International squash tournament here at the Calcutta Racket Club on Tuesday.

Playing his first match after short break owing to an injury, Bhattacharya, ranked 62nd in the world, showed good form and took just 18 minutes in demolishing 248th ranked Singh for a scoreline of 11-7, 11-2, 11-3, before sailing into the main draw.

The Indian star, who has five professional titles under his belt, had pulled out of an invitational meet in Jaipur in August with a strain on his knee. But he did not show signs of any injury as he produced a fluent game mixing aggression and accuracy.

In another match Pakistan's Basit Ashfaq caused an upset prevailing over Lee Drew of England in the second qualifying match, which was stretched till the decider. Ashfaq, ranked 106, lost the first game against 73rd ranked Drew but came back in the next game to square it up. The next two games were decided alternately before the Pakistani won the decider with a great show of nerve. The results:

Qualifiers (Final round): Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Supreet Singh (Ind) 11-7, 11-2, 11-3; Basit Ashfaq (Pak) bt Lee Drew (Eng) 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-1; Cameron White (Aus) bt Tony James (Aus) 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-6; Khyal Muhammad Khan (Pak) bt Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-8, 11-8, 11-8. — Sports Reporter

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